Greetings, it's taken quite a long time to publish something new, but here I am, still alive! This story was once titled Deformed Hero, based on some outdated and outright ridiculous ideas I had many, many years ago in 2013. But this year, I have decided to revise the writing style as well as the plot because after skimming through the old version, I dreaded reading past the prologue (vomit emojis).

I hope this version is better, enjoy. :)

- ML

UPDATE 13 July 2024: Timestamp

UPDATE 27 November 2024: grammar, spelling, changed some other stuff

Introduction

Year X804

The night sky revealed its first few stars in the dark violet sky as it faded to a black-blue. With the darkness of the moonless night hanging over this bleak Underworld, it seemed as though every creature went to sleep as the crimson sun descended on the black horizon.

But not all life was lost in the night.

There stood a group of seven demons, nomads to this Underworld: a tomcat, a man, a bunny, a bird, a female, a humanoid woman, and a Dullahan skeleton. They stood upon a massive brick wall that surrounded an old prison. This ancient building witnessed the lives and deaths of thousands of demons through the decades in an ethnic cleanse, ridding the Underworld of undesirable creatures to appease the Empire.

The tomcat peered down at this setting, narrowing his one good eye as he whispered, "Let's make it quick."

Creatures moved slowly through chambers, dragging their feet on the maroon dirt. Metal cuffs tightly restrained their ankles, necks, and wrists, connected to thin tungsten chains to restrict aggressive actions. Many creatures wore muzzles that never came off unless they needed food and fluids, which they received through straws to ensure their snapping jaws could not rip into the throats of their guards. All of the prisoners were weak from hunger, depression, or both. Most fell ill due to their living conditions and the food, or so they thought it was food. When the prisoners were sleeping, one could not tell whether they were resting or already dead.

But hunger, metal bondage, and the smell of misery were nothing for a certain group of robust children, long since accustomed to their living conditions. Reiji (9), Takeshiro (7), Shugo (12), Ushizumo (11), and Ryouichi (12). It is not certain whether they were born in captivity or outside their cage.

This dreary prison stood on the outskirts of the great Empire of Dominique, named after the notorious Queen Dominique I.

In the past, this villainous monarch was sentenced to a life-long imprisonment in a powerful Earth prison called Tartaros. King Demos the Terror, her young brother, ruled in her place. Demos was dubbed Terror because his liberating the great Empire from a reign of darkness was a terror for those who most benefited from such heinous traditions.

But this is not a story of the Underworld. This is the story of Reiji Sagara, one of hundreds of children born and raised in captivity. She was also born in that very prison. She never learned her real father or mother's names. Her caregiver, an elf named Elfine, was a kind and gentle spirit. She persisted in making Reiji feel safe. Each passing day was a breath of fresh air because no one knew how much time they had left. Reiji's caregiver, even in her final hour, made sure Reiji knew that this was not the end of her.

"Don't be afraid, my child," Reiji remembered her mother saying. "We will not be forgotten by King Demos. Soon, his people will set us free."

Raiji looked up to her mother with clouded, gold-bronze eyes. "Do you promise, Mom?" Elfine held her daughter in a comforting embrace. Her hugs felt like home. Reiji recounted her mother's skin being so warm and soft, the safest place for her little head.

"Of course I promise," she assured the little demon. "The spirits of our ancestors are always watching, casting a light of hope on us."

In the courtyard, surrounded by massive, magically charged walls, Reiji sat alone, drawing little sketches and shapes in the dirt with a stick. In secret, she would use a little bit of magic to write whatever she learned from the oldest prisoners. Her hair seemed to have a power of its own, moving like a living extension of her body.

The stick swerved and formed a circle, overlapping the first one with strange markings reading "love" on the inside as well as similar term along the inner circle. On that inner circle line outside the soft words, the dark green-haired girl wrote different words for "hate." It was no special circle, but it meant something to her.

"Hey, Boob Beast!" A child's voice taunted her, slicing through her concentration. Dropping the stick, Reiji looked towards the source of the voice, seeing three children she despised. They had always bullied her for her brown skin and early puberty, which caused her body to develop faster than all of the other children. To them, she was a monster with a repulsive body.

One girl, older, tall, and skinny, sneered insults as she kicked Reiji in the legs, knocking her to the ground. The little girl whimpered in pain but did not cry out. Crying was useless there.

"Get up, slum-skin. We wanna play a game called Mark the Beast," she smirked. "And you are the beast. Grab her, Kiki," she ordered to the shorter, chubby male child.

He grabs her arms firmly with tough, textured hands. Reiji tried to pull away, but Kiki was a very strong demon. They dragged her away, taking her into a corner where no one could see their antics. Reiji remained silent. Similar to crying, begging for mercy was also out of the question.

"Face it, Boob Beast," the ring leader said, looking down at her. "If you weren't as hideous as your weird mom, maybe you would have a shot at equity in this place!" Reiji's heart sank at the sound of that demon insulting her mother.

"Let's start the game," said the third child, a buff male as tall as the ringleader. Kiki held both of her arms behind her back. The feeling of the tungsten cuffs was soft compared to his hands. The ringleader pulled out a small, shining pocket knife from inside her shirt and handed it to the buff male.

"You mark first, Otto," she said to him.

"Okay, Mars."

Otto took the knife, then knelt before Reiji, who trembled like a leaf. He grabbed her cheeks, lifting her face up. He began to cut from the top right of her forehead down to her left cheek. Reiji struggled to suppress her cries of agony, biting her lower lip. Blood leaked from the wound and probably her lip as well. Mars smiled wickedly at the gruesome sight.

Save me! Someone, please! Reiji cried internally, hurting too much to use her words. She began to cry, letting out sob after sob. The trio laughed at her suffering, completely desensitized to their cruelty. Senseless and unprovoked.

Then, Otto handed the knife to Kiki. The pressure of the blade was rougher in his hands, going from the top left side of Reiji's forehead that time. The male sliced slowly across her face.

Finally, Reiji screamed. The stretch of her mouth made the blood come down faster, her skin burning from the severe cuts. The dark red fluids dripped from her chin and down on her grey shirt. The dirt beneath her was soon stained with her blood as well.

Reiji felt her knees buckle under her, the blood loss going straight to her head. Mars took the knife at last, intent on slicing the terrified child's face whether she stood or not.

Please, Reiji silently pleaded for mercy.

Mars grabbed her dark green hair, lifting her head to meet the villain's brown eyes. Reiji shouted in pain.

"You're pretty tough for a little scrap, Boob Beast. And there's so much blood!" she snickered.

Reiji forced a smile across her lips. "I-I get it... f-from my mother."

"Che!" Mars scoffed. She was about to make another cut until a war cry interrupted her.

"REI-TARAAAA!"

Reiji widened her eyes in surprise as Ushizumo and Shugo charged at the group. A taller, dark blue-haired male, Ryouichi, came in behind the duo. Mars switched the knife to offense mode, but soon came down as Shugo sent an uppercut to her chin. She must have bitten her tongue because blood spurted from her mouth.

Ushizumon flew at Otto with a kick to his throat, her worn, grey dress fluttering in the wind. Ryouichi pulled Reiji away from Kiki, wrapping his arms around her. The frightened girl was stuck in a whirlwind of emotions, unable to process the chaos suddenly unfolding. The oldest boy, Shugo, ran over to her and kneeled beside her.

"I'm sorry we were late, Rei," Shugo whispered. Reiji did not care; she was just glad they found her. She hugged Shugo, sobbing uncontrollably. Kiki and Otto were stunned; Mars bled from her tongue as she cried and cursed from ghe pain.

Suddenly, when they had come around the corner, they were met by a group of six guards. They forced the group of five apart and also separated the trio of bullies. Shugo and Ryouichi were taken by force one way; Reiji was released from Shugo's comforting grasp, almost landing on her bloody face. Ushizumo kicked and screamed in one guard's underarm hold. Reiji was pulled off the ground by her arm. Ryouichi by another. Takashiro, who stood alone by the small alley, was swooped up as well. The blind boy did not resist the arrest.

Shugo tried to reach for Reiji, but she was out of his hand's reach.

"Let go of me, you dumb jerk!" Ushizimi shouted, hitting her little fists on the guard. He glared down at her. She immediately stopped hitting him and wailed the whole way.

As the children were brought back inside the prison, they passed by the cafeteria, worn with age and lack of use, then carried down a white hall. The walls and ceiling were made of strong bricks. The guards stopped at an isolation cell. This was not their unit.

"You plan raid, you have punishment," one guard growled. The five demon children were practically tossed into the cell, immediately locked inside.

Six hours went by. The five children were cold, hungry, and defeated. Shugo sulked in a corner near Takeshiro, who slept soundly on Reiji's lap. "It's hopeless; we just aren't strong enough against them," Ushizumo murmured glumly. Reiji nodded in agreement. Her face ached from her injury. The bleeding had stopped hours prior, drying on her face; it was difficult to clean when they only had their shirts to wipe her face with. She was certain this would leave a scar.

"I am sick of confinement!" the ginger male demon roared. "We didn't do anything wrong, we're just kids!"

In the midst of his outburst, Shugo exhaled deeply. Takeshiro jolted awake.

"GET BACK!" he shrieked, grabbing a startled Reiji.

The four children stumbled away from Shugo as sparks of green flames ignited. He roared, spilling a wave of fire at the doors. The emerald spread rapidly, taking out the guards just outside the cell. The green flames rapidly licked away at their rough, scaly flesh in a matter of seconds. The odors and charred flesh spread through the air.

Reiji looked on in total shock. She had never seen such a display of power before. She almost forgot about the stinging wounds on her face.

And with that explosion, the children escaped. Ryouichi chose to carry Reiji as they ran through the halls, straight towards the gates to the unit. Shugo carried the blind Takeshiro. He wrapped his thin arms around around the ginger boy's neck, holding on for dear life. Ushizumo ran like a bat out of hell.

On the other side were prisonere in their locked cells, wide awake without a doubt. Awoken by the commotion, the smoke, and the roars and cries of the dying guards, sleep was no longer possible. The children hurried away as the emerald flames crept into the cells one by one, causing a great fright. The mixture of terror and pain was incomprehensible underneath the blaring alarms triggered by the smoke.

Reiji shakily covered her ears as the banging of the cells and the shouting of other faceless inmates overwhelmed her sense of hearing. Reiji could hardly detect the explosion erupting in the block they escaped from. The ground was shaken by the power of another, much bigger explosion.

Before the number of deaths rose any higher than that of the guards, the cell doors opened by chance of a certain bunny demon's fist smashing through a power source.

Hordes of prisoners escaped through any possible exit. Even in the chaos brought by Shugo's sparks of adolescent rage, the young, old, slowest, and weakest of the hordes were assisted; the threat of falling victim to suffocation or death by trampling was too high at the moment. Nonetheless, everywhere Shugo went, the emerald chased its maker ferociously; the fire obeyed Shugo's wordless command, striking the bodies of the prison guards and engulfing them, swallowing them in his furnace.

The seven nomad demons were caught by surprise as an explosion blew out the east wing of the building on the second floor. Green flames and light grey smoke rose up from the blown side, bathing the dark surroundings in a greenish light.

Several hundred demons escaped through emergency exits, seeking refuge from the fire by the magically charged walls. They were careful not to touch the walls, however. At one point, any prisoner who touched the walls was electrocuted to death.

"Well, that was easy," the tomcat muttered.

"The anti-eterano particles were bound to fail anyway. I highly doubt the walls are charged electrically anymore," the brown-skinned man beside him said.

"No deaths among the prisoners," the skeletal demon added. "Only workers."

"Finally, an easy mission," the female aviary demon muttered.

The masses watched as the prison they called home slowly collapsed in the massive bonfire. All the demon folk were silent as the seven unknown demons emerged from the wall across the property.

The bunny demon stepped forward first, lowering her light grey ears to appear non-threatening. As the nomads approached, panic increased. Some even began to claw at the wall, even though none could climb.

The emerald fire blazed on, gradually lowering its threat level from discord to a lesser, harmonious fire.

"We have come to help," the bunny demon declared. Her voice traveled to the ears of all the prisoners, despite the pink bandana covering half her face. Her eyes were covered by protective bronze goggles. She wore a grey turtleneck, black leather gloves, dark and slim trousers, and black boots up to her calves. The petite demon continued.

"King Demos personally requested our aid in scouting this territory. We found this prison, assuming it was desolate and abandoned, but what my comrades and I have witnessed is that this place is far from that! We come to set you free!" she announced.

"Did she just make that up?" the bird demon murmured to the hornless female demon beside her.

"Pretty sure the king doesn't know us," she whispered back.

The prisonsers' reactions were low energy. The blonde tomcat came forward that time, towards a wall no one stood by. He raised his hands, joining them in a triangular shape. A dark red mass of energy combusted from his palms, blowing the brick wall apart. The debris flew outwards, covering a radius of several meters.

"What's going on?" Takeshiro asked, furrowing his brows. His eyes moved rapidly under his eyelids. Reiji could hardly believe this was all real. She had dreamed of this day for so long. Did Shugo summon them himself?

"I-I think the king sent people to free us," Reiji whispered. Tears welled in her eyes, flowing freely. She trembled with emotion. The little girl cried again as they were walked out into the open land. Those nine years Reiji spent in darkness already felt like a distant nightmare. The civilians watched as the nomads spread out.

"We are your navigators to your new homes," the bunny explained, her voice traveling with ease. "We were each assigned a city or town to take civilians to where you will all be given homes, clothing, security, food, and other resources to assist in your rehabilitation. I represent the city of False Line," she concluded, placing her hand on her chest.

"I am Jupetoresoid," the man said.

"Foretitou." blond tomcat.

"Demiterum." The Dullahan.

"Twilight Zone." The hornless female. Ushizumo tapped Takeshiro's shoulder. "That Twilight lady is so pretty," she whispered excitedly.

"I don't trust this," a grownup grunted.

"I represent Loner Village," the humanoid woman said. She smiled in a friendly manner, immediately attracting a few elder civilians. One of them hugged her, crying tears of joy.

"We thought you'd never come," the old one wailed. The human looked almost stunned by his sudden touch. Another inmate pried the old male off. Reiji watched quietly.

"I represent Saint Demos," the bird demon declared.

The five children watched older children and grown demon folk split slowly into seven groups. They had no idea what was actually happening. The process lasted what felt like hours to make the groups as even as possible. Reiji and her friends were ushered towards the group for Loner Village, as they were running out of options.

The children stayed close together. Among the cluster of civilians was Mars and her lackeys, to Reiji's surprise. The young girl averted her gaze when Mars looked over. When Reiji looked up, Mars had walked somewhere else. Then, they were off in their separate directions.

As they walked in silence, Reiji began to doze off. She was caught by Ryouichi just as she was beginning to sleepwalk. The beast soul demon chuckled. "We're about to rest. The colorful lady said so," he informed her. Reiji nodded quietly. "Rest, I really need that," she rasped.

"I almost forgot!" Ushizumo blurted, shaking Reiji fully awake. "It's our birthday right now," the little ginger beamed at her friend. Reiji cracked a smile. Once upon a time, they all decided their "first birthday" was their first day of freedom. And now it was real. Shugo jumped up, hollering in joy.

"We're free! We're really free!" he sang, running up to the front of the traveling group. Ushizumo hugged Reiji and Takeshiro tightly. Ryouichi Shugo came back, throwing his arms around Ryouichi. "I love my friends," he murmured. Ryouichi cackled, pushing him off.

"Gross, you smell like ashes!" the beast soul demon teased.

"I smell like victory!" Shugo retorted, pushing him back.

Their small bickering declined, as they were too happy to fight each other that night. Reiji looked around for Mars, the demon who despised her. Mars was nowhere to be found. Oh, well. Reiji had nothing more to worry about.

It's over. Nothing will hurt me again.

"Nothing will hurt me again." LMAO

—ML