Entrance Ceremony
The Netherworld, a brutal hellish wasteland where only the strongest and smartest survive nature's wrath, the home of vicious monsters and demons that struggle to survive. The sky is a sickly pale green as the morning sun rose, the ground consisting of dry cracked clay and rocks that demanded only the hardiest of plant life to survive, plants that resembled large thorny purple roots and vines being the common trees and bushes with foliage the color of rust and blood, grass being the same light yellowish green as the sky, one would think that no true civilization could survive in such a desolate and unforgiving world. They would be mistaken.
The Netherworld was home to demons, beings of powerful magic and desire. They built a home, a society for growth and life, for all demon kind to survive in their brutal hellscape. A society built on ranks and power, the higher your number the greater your power and authority. Thirteen demons together, known as the Thirteen Crowns, maintained the order and stability of this society so that all demons had an equal chance to grow and prosper, but above all of them sat the highest authority of them all. A being of such immense power and strength that their will became the will of all demon kind. By their command did the Netherworld have floating islands and streams, flowers blooming in flowing lava, the Netherworld itself shaped its entirety based on the will of the Demon King, Delkira.
However, nothing can last forever and Delkira's reign will eventually come to an end. The demons of the Thirteen Crowns had planned on pleading with their master to find himself a mate and sire an heir, but the whims of the Demon King could not be controlled by any one or group of demons. The Crowns would get their royal family, not because of their nagging, but because Delkira decided he desired children of his own. With his great power, the aether of the Netherworld itself served to help him create a son and a daughter, twin children that he loved with all of his being and shined so brightly they captivated the hearts of the Thirteen just by existing. Their names were Iruma and Irumi, the prince and princess of the Netherworld.
As they grew older they were trained by the best and brightest of the demon race, trained in fighting and magic under some of the harshest conditions, tutored in math and sciences, studied the arts, anything that could be applied, they learned. The only thing that they actually lacked was contact with the masses not related to fancy balls and parties, few friends their own age among the many admirers and flatterers that made up a good faction of the nobility they had to deal with that WEREN'T trying to squirm their way into Delkira's favor. A problem that would've been rectified much sooner had some among the Thirteen Crowns been more content with their level of education instead of insisting they excel at everything. But now the time had come to send them to school. One of Delkira's top advisors lord Sullivan, chairman of the most prestigious school of the Netherworld and a being second only to his master Delkira, suggested and arranged for their royal highnesses to finally attend his school. The academy known as Babyls. The story begins with the loud cawing of a yellow plump bird like alarm clock with a horrendous sound that makes anyone that hears it want to claw out their ears, awakening the royal twins in their lavish room located in demon lord Sullivan's manor.
"I swear, Poro-chan made a personal effort to find the most irritating sound possible when he made this clock." A tired voice groaned out as a large hand snaked out of the thick comforter and clapped the alarm clock on the head. The owner of said hand soon rose up to leave the bed and stretch his body out. At his full height the figure stood at a towering ten feet with a lean and broad frame of powerful muscles, a head of messy spiky blue hair with a tint of purple that reached to his shoulders with a pair of angled horns aiming upwards while his eyes shined like blue gems. He was wearing a set of royal purple pajamas the did nothing to impede the stretching of his body as he brought out a pair of black feathery harpy wings, broad and majestic like a dark night sky that almost touched the distant walls of the room and a sharp looking spade shaped tail as black as shadows. "You up yet Umi?" The man asked the figure in the other bed in the room, containing his identical twin sister. The twin children of Delkira, Iruma and Irumi.
"I'm up Uma." She yawned as she rose up. The key differences between the two was her more womanly figure, her longer hair reaching her mid back, and a hot red tail ending in a heart. "Today's the day. Right brother?" She said, smiling as the two snapped their fingers. With a pop the two were engulfed in smoke as they now wore different outfits, Iruma in a blue two piece uniform of a high collared jacket and pants that have a steady white outline with a red brooch and tie on the chest while Irumi now had a white and red sailor outfit with the shirt being the white and the rest holding that red color. "Today, we start attending Babyls!"
"Not without your disguises you're not." They heard a monotone voice say, turning to find their butler and main caretaker, Opera. Opera was a powerful demon whose expression rarely changed from a constant mask of apathy unless pushed by extreme emotional reactions, forcing anyone that didn't know them to guess from the demon's cat ears/horns and tail. They had pale skin, maroon colored hair tied into a plait, red eyes, and black fur on their tail. The outfit they wore was a formal dress consisting of a red vest over a white shirt and red and white tie with navy dress pants. "Your father left orders to not expose your true forms unless necessary. We want you to have a proper school experience, NOT dealing with the constant adoration that comes from your positions."
"Right right." Iruma said before the twins snapped their fingers and were again engulfed in a puff of smoke. "It's still early Opera, please be patient." The smoke cleared to reveal that the twins to have become much smaller and looked far weaker with their horns becoming short and blunt with a slight curve, reaching Opera's chest at five feet tall with an ahoge strand of hair standing atop their heads.
"Is this better? Opera?" Irumi asked as the twins held hands and gave their caretaker smiles that shined like stars and created flowers around them.
"Yes, much better." Opera said in their usual monotone, despite the tells of the shine in their eyes, the twitching of their horns, and wagging of their tail giving away how much they loved it. "Now please, come down for breakfast." The cat like demon was in service to the twins since before they were even a year old and their detail of knowledge of them were only exceeded by the twins themselves. They made their way through the halls of the grand mansion, having moved there from the royal palace of Babel Tower. The halls were finely decorated with the best bouquets grown under the care of botanical magic and various paintings and photographs... entirely based on the twins and a scant few others.
"I don't know if I ever get used to seeing these Umi." Iruma said to his sister, smiling despite the supposed unease. "Even papa doesn't have half as many pictures of us." Irumi simply let out a small giggle.
"That's just grandpa Sully's way of saying how much he treasures us. Especially since he's never had a family Uma." Sullivan was a demon that for a long time put work over his personal life, long missing his chance to have a family of his own. When the twins were born, Sullivan decided to treat them as if they were his own grandchildren and took every chance to love and spoil them. The twins made their way to the long dining hall, finding a lavish feast from a chef's nightmare with a tall and very slender old man waiting for them.
"Good morning my darling grandchildren!" He cheered with utter glee. This was Sullivan, Demon King Delkira's second in command and the foremost honorary grandparent of the twins. The man himself was bald with two yellow horns on the sides of his head with his mouth covered by a small handlebar mustache. He had the usual pointed ears among most humanoid demons and a rather large and prominent nose which held up his glasses. His attire consisted of a purple suit with long coattails, a white fur collar around his neck, and a bird's skull in lieu of a tie. "I'm so excited! You're both finally going to attend my school!"
"Yeah! Can't wait grandpa!" The twins cheered before sitting down to eat the literal piles of nightmarish delicacies... which began to rapidly disappear down the pair's gullet, cleaning off full plates in seconds.
"Now kids, before we drop you off for school, a few reminders." The elderly demon said while the twins continued to eat and drink their breakfast. "Firstly, your we insist that you keep your royal heritage a secret for now. Let your actions and accomplishments be judged without the knowledge of who your father is. Second, you will have a few allies within the school to help with that. Kalego and Shichirou being teachers, as well as young Asmodeus Alice, Azazel Ameri who is the current student council president, and Kirio Ami. The middle Sabnock child is also attending, but..."
"Sabro? He's the most likely to blow our cover!" Iruma all but shouted in surprise. "Probably still hasn't gotten over that one game of execution cannonball."
"He did swear his eternal fealty as our shield as a result." Irumi added. "Mostly because Azzy wants to be our spear."
"Don't worry my lovelies, Ronove Lomiere is also attending." Sullivan continued. "He'll do what he can to distract people from any rumors about who you really are." That relieved the twins somewhat, the Ronove family were notorious attention hogs but were also the leaders of the disciplinary forces of the Netherworld. Kalego Naberius and Shichirou Balam were teachers selected by Sullivan and approved by Delkira to oversee the twins' more scholarly education in regards to history, math, and science while also doing work as teachers of Babyls. The rest were children of various nobility with Alice and Ameri being children of two current members of the Thirteen Crowns. "Now the last thing, we need to take a picture~!" The elderly demon sang, shrinking to an egg shaped form while the twins sighed despite maintaining their smile. Their grandfather just loved them so much. "His highness dumped some of the paperwork he needs to do on Levy and Beli and will be meeting us at the gate, so we should probably hurry before those two get too angry at him."
'That's papa alright.' The twins silently agreed. Their father may be the king but he also REALLY hated work despite how important some of the assignments are, preferring to spend his time fawning over his precious children. The twins set aside the final plate of a stack of five hundred plates each, thus ending their breakfast before heading for the entrance of the mansion and finding a deep pink pumpkin shaped carriage with brass horns, lanterns, and gold colored shaft with two large black horses with burning red eyes and silver manes tied to it. "Hello Chiron and Charon." The twins greeted with the horses stamping excitedly.
"Did we keep you waiting? I'm sorry." Iruma said, walking up to the mighty beasts with his sister as the demonic equines nuzzled the twins affectionately while receiving their own loving pats.
"We need to get to school fast, so if you hurry there will be some extra treats for you~." Irumi promised, exciting the pair further as the twins got into the cart and sinking into the soft cushions. They were soon joined by Opera while Sullivan took the driver's seat... solely because the old man called dibs.
"And we're off~!" Sullivan sang, the two horses charging forward with just that phase and making their way to the school. Within the hour they arrive at a castle fortress structure with thorny horns and wing-like structures, all on a hanging landmass surrounded by stalagmite spires of stone with a single crooked jagged pathway leading to it. In the air were hundreds of young demons, all flying to the school as students to start their higher education for some while the upperclassmen would continue another day of learning. On one point of the jagged path was a standing board, decorated in purple vines and odd leaves, that read 'Entrance Ceremony'. Next to it was a rather unimpressive looking man that seemed lanky and weak with short blue hair and small red horns wearing a white T-shirt and gray sweatpants. "Here we are!" Sullivan said, stopping the cart.
"Papa!" The twins cheered out, rushing to the lanky man who joyously hugged the two.
"Iruma! Irumi! Give daddy a hug!" He shouted as the three embraced while Opera and Sullivan set up the camera.
"The camera's set up your majesty!" Sullivan called out making the man smile. With a snap of his fingers the group vanished into thin air, invisible to anyone outside of the barrier. With that privacy the family again snapped their fingers and took to their true forms. While the twins were tall their father towered over them with long flowing hair that reached to his knees with a simple bun on top crowned with a golden cord and held with two elegant hairpins, wearing a tight sleeveless tunic that showed off a broad, lean, and powerful build with skintight sleeves tied to one of three rings on each hand, and baggy white pants. The twins took hold of the sign while Delkira scooped them up into his powerful arms as they made the peace sign with a smile.
"Devi!" The three said as Opera took the picture, hovering to Delkira's chest level. "Okay you two, now's Sully's turn." The king said with Sullivan cheering as he took his place between the twins once Delkira set his children down. All three of the them made triple six signs with their hands as Opera took that picture. "Now Red's turn." Delkira said, surprising the caretaker as Sullivan took the camera and set the cat like demon between their charges with the ears and tail twitching in joy. This picture was more dignified as they all stood together and smiled, even Opera broke their stoic mask to smile... just a little. Then the group did one with everyone together before a scream snapped their focus back.
"Ten minutes left before the entrance ceremony." Sullivan sighed while the royal family reapplied their disguises. "Come now children, we must hurry." He told the twins, who quickly made sure to share a purple apple-like fruit with the mighty steeds, before unfurling their wings and flying off. "Your highness," the principal said with a bow, "have a pleasant day. I shall look after them."
"Thank you Sully. Good-bye." The king said before unfurling his own wings and flying off to his palace. The chair demon smiled as his master went to do his job, the royal highnesses went to attend their first day of school, and now it was his turn to do his job. With a skip in his step, he flew towards the school.
"Now let's see." Iruma said, scanning the school grounds as he and his sister descended from their flight. "Where are... there!" He spied a group of four students in black and red uniforms, one with short spiky blonde hair, one with slicked back black hair and claw marks on his cheeks, one with blond and black hair wearing glasses, and one that was a hot pink with long horns and bangs that covered the eyes, led by a tall woman with long reddish orange hair that reached her hips with two points like cat ears atop her head, wearing a black and white vest over a white undershirt, and orange and white skirt with thigh high socks and knee high boots.
"Oh~, going to say hi to Ameri are you?" Irumi teased her brother, following his line of sight.
"Just a quick hello. Too many people to really say hi Umi." The male twin said as they landed and proceeded to walk by. "Good morning~!" The twins sang as they passed by.
"Good morning to you as well." The bespectled member said as they passed, soon noticing Ameri watching the pair with her mouth set in a tight line and a blush on her blush. "President, is something wrong with them?"
"NO!" Ameri shrieked before composing herself. "No. Everything is fine. Continue to monitor the students." She ordered, receiving a 'yes ma'am' from the group.
"Seem like Meri's got a handle on the student council." Irumi said, glancing back at the group before focusing on the road ahead with her brother. They were closing in on the auditorium when they heard a yell and a smash.
"What is the meaning of this?!" They heard a demand, causing the twins to run where the ruckus was and finding a student attacking a teacher.
"I'm testing my strength before the entrance ceremony!" The student explained, wielding a large ax he had attacked the teacher with. The student was a mountain of a man with blonde spiky hair and a muscular barrel chest, wearing a tattered red cape, a black sleeve on one arm and a black wristband on the other, black pants, and was bare chested. "If I defeat a teacher, I'll be fa-"
"SABRO!" Iruma shouted, shocking the attacking student into dropping his ax and turning his head stiffly to the now glaring twins. "What the damn do you think you're doing?" The now named Sabro attempted to answer, but all he could do was stutter. "Just get to the entrance ceremony."
"YES SIR!" The demon shouted before running into the building, the teacher just looking at the twins in shock.
"Sorry about him. He's very eager to prove himself." Irumi said as the two bowed and continued toward the auditorium, leaving the teacher dumbfounded as to what happened.
"Please don't make excuses for Sabro Umi." Iruma begged as they entered the building, finding an empty spot among the massive throng of students.
"He just wants to prove himself. Remember how we were during a few training sessions with papa?" Irumi returned, making the both of them shudder while remembering the harsher training their father gave them.
"That was a bad idea back then." Iruma conceded as they sat down and waited as the entrance ceremony began. They stood, they sang a song about eating humans, they sat back down, and Sullivan took the podium.
"I look out before me, and I see the future of the demon race." He said, speaking in a deep baritone that demanded respect and pulsed with authority. "Every single one of you has potential, but whether or not you realize that potential is up to you. The teachers of this school have the responsibility of showing you how to succeed, but it is your responsibility to actually do so. Above all, one more very important thing." The students were playing very close attention as a large poster unfurled, revealing the picture of him and the twins in their disguised forms posing with the sign. "These are my adorable grandchildren!" He shouted while turning into his egg shape.
'When did he get that made?' The twins thought to themselves while the various students demons talked about the picture. They expected something along these lines, Sully took every chance to brag and fawn over the royal pair that were his surrogate grandchildren
"Now, the freshman representative, Asmodeus Alice-" A tall male demon with pale skin, short pink hair, crimson red eyes, and a tailored white school uniform stood up and scanned the room, searching desperately for someone, "will NOT be making the introductory speech as that will now be handled by Iruma and Irumi." Sullivan declared before pulling of a video camera and moving to a spot to capture the magic.
'Of course he did.' The twins mentally sighed as they stood up and started to make their way towards the stage, passing Asmodeus who was watching the siblings. The two were perfectly aware of their grandfather's actions since the man didn't change much from when they were born, obsessively documenting practically everything they did. They heard that, as a result, it finally put an end to the arguments of 'who had the best grandchild' that he and Delkira's other two advisors usually had on occasion, especially when the twins started calling them 'Grandpa Beli' and 'Grandma Levi'. The siblings took their place at the podium, scanned their audience, and took a breath. Almost immediately a difference could be seen, flowers replaced with black feathers and cuteness replaced with full blown confidence and authority, gentle eyes becoming much sharper and smiles replaced with smirks.
"Umi? Remind me what's the minimum rank required to graduate?" Iruma asked his sister, the audience all but paralyzed at the sudden change they witnessed.
"I believe that it's Daleth(4) Uma." The sister said, speaking in a tone that made others want to submit to her for a mere ounce of her affection. "Such a low bar I'd say." She shook her head in apathy. "That should be the minimum if you want to make it to third year, with Vau(6) being the minimum to graduate."
"So true my dear sister." Iruma agreed as they looked over the crowd. "So I supposed what we're trying to say is this." They took another breath and roared out together.
"Start pushing yourselves forward or we'll trample you underfoot!"
"Many demons are lazy." Iruma growled.
"They hate hard work." Irumi hissed.
"They lack ambition and drive. We don't." They said together. "And neither will our class. Get ready to witness the best generation in the history of Bablys!" The leaned back and changed again, shifting back to their more timid and cutesy state. "That's all! Let's have a splendid school life!" They smiled to the crowd who, once they got over their shock, began to loudly applaud the royal twins as they walked off the stage. As they descended, they caught a glimpse of a tall and muscular figure with short spiky blonde hair and a metal mask over his mouth shooting them a thumbs up and a wink, and another with slicked back wavy black hair with sharp features set in a near permanent scowl that couldn't help but smirk at the two.
"Think we went too far?" Irumi asked shyly covering herself in embarrassment while the crowd cheered for them. "Muu~, this is why I'm not a Demdol." She pouted.
"That and it'd be unfair considering who trained us in music and dancing." Her brother said, equally embarrassed about them using their 'wicked' mode. "But, we promised ourselves that we'd make the most of this and inspire others. That's what papa says is crucial as a leader." They stopped when they came face to face with Asmodeus Alice, the taller demon looking both of them in the eye.
"We must talk." He said to the twins. "Preferably in private."
