Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Lucius found himself floating in a sea of emptiness. His vision was working and he could see his entire body. It was simply that there was nothing else to look at, the very concept of 'nothing' was all that stared back at him.

However, he was not unsettled, rather there was a strange comfort to it. He had been here before.

"Luz. Grimm. Show yourselves." He shouted out.

For a moment there was nothing, just silence. Then the void became filled with a bright white, light. Then opposite of it, a deep, never-ending darkness. They were two entities he had known for a long time, but had not spoken to for a while. A smile breached his face as he spoke to two of his oldest friends.

"Grimm, Luz… nice to see you, though I cant remember exactly, I feel like the circumstances of this are less than ideal?" He said while moving to some sort of seating position.

There was no up or down, nor was there a concept of left or right, everything simply… was. However, he 'sat' as though he were resting in a friend's room.

"Long time, no see Lucius. Well, for you I suppose. We've been watching you for this entire time. Also time isn't really… a thing, so it kinda feels like we just talked!" Grimm's raspy voice laughed out.

"Lucius… hello…" Luz on the other hand seemed to somehow struggle with speaking.

Now that he was paying attention, his overwhelming light that sometimes hurt to look at was actually somewhat manageable. It was as though the being had gotten weaker somehow.

"Everything okay, Luz?"

"Bah, don't worry about him!" Grimm chuckled. "He's just feeling a little gloomy."

"That's one way to put it…" Luz whispered. Stay updated with m-v le-mpyr

"Hey, you get what you deserved. Keeping our boy held back like that… how rude of you good sir!" Grimm continued.

Lucius was confused for a moment, then felt a rush of rage. Was what Grimm said true? Was the reason he was unable to advance for so many years because Luz was holding him back?

"Uh-oh! Someone's in trouble!" Grimm teased.

"Luz…"

"Listen Lucius, it was necessary. For your growth." Luz tried to argue in as convincing of a tone as he could manage. "The hardships you experienced made you grow as a person, forced you to learn. That's all I wanted for you so that way you did not use your power as a crutch."

"Yes, Luz. You did do that. Meanwhile I tried my hardest at first to breach through your little wall, but alas when I saw that I could not best you, I had no choice but to give up and let you torture our poor boy to your heart's content."

If darkness could shrug, that seemed to be what Grimm had just done. Lucius thought back to the times he struggled and how he was underestimated and mocked for being weak and unable to advance. His job of protecting Rena itself seemed to be a joke the universe played on him because she was a rank higher than he was.

However, the universe was not playing a prank. No, the culprit of that particular breed of misfortune was someone he had considered a friend.

"You know Luz… out of the two of you, Grimm was the one I expected to trick me, betray me." Lucius growled. His eyes flared in anger. "But it was you. Do you know what I faced. What I had to do?"

"But you grew, did you not?"

"Grow? You did that so I could grow? Was my suffering as a child not enough growth for you? Was the world hating me not enough growth for you? Was being ripped from the love of my life not enough growth for you?" Lucius was shouting now, his voice echoing through the vast emptiness. "Huh Luz?

Was all that pain not enough for you?!"

"I wanted you too learn how to use the power you had…"

"If you didn't stop me from using the power I had, maybe I could have! Instead, I learned to work with scraps!"

Luz was silent for a while. Then, "Heroes struggle through adversity. To become what…"

"Fuck your heroes."

"What?"

"You heard me Luz. Fuck. Your. Heroes. Why would I want to be one?"

"To change the world…"

"There are a lot of ways to change the world Luz… but even if there were. I don't want that." He whispered. "I don't want that at all. I just want to exist. To that end, I take the steps necessary, no matter the cost."

"You've murdered so many people Lucius." Luz whispered, his voice was getting weaker and the light grew ever dimmer.

Grimm simply stayed silent and watched as he argued with the other half of the void.

"What would they have done to me even if I had done nothing Luz?"

"You did more than what was needed to make your point. Why did you go further? Every time you killed, you went further than you needed to. You could have gotten the same results without resorting to the amount of violence you…"

"Enough, Luz." He said with serene calm. "You're right. I went further than necessary. I killed more than I needed… but so what if I did? This is a kill or be killed world, Luz, and for me? I would rather be on the killing side."

"That doesn't…"

"Shut up Luz…"

Grimm's cackle echoed through the void, taunting his counterpart. Still he said nothing. He simply continued to laugh as Lucius' vision faded.

Just before his vision faded entirely, he heard the darkness call to him, "I'm proud of you Lucius… let's continue to work together."

*****

Kalliope sat by Lucius' side, holding onto his hand. There was no way for him to know that she was comforting him, but she remained that way regardless. If anything, it was a comfort for her instead.

Uncle Kalivas also stood by Lucius' bedside as multiple healers cast spell after spell on the boy in sections. They combined several different grades of potions with their magic to try and quickly heal the worst of his injuries.

Eventually the open wounds began to close and the burns began to fade. However, many of the wounds would leave permanent scars. It was a testament to the intense amount of mana that went into causing those wounds. Without some of the greatest healing potions known to man, and the strongest healers in the world… no one would have been able to heal the scars away.

Lucius would walk the world forever with these. Kalliope did think they looked pretty badass though. She especially liked the one on his chest and neck. It was almost sad to think that most of these would be covered up by his clothes… but if she were too…

"Kalliope."

She yelped after her name was called out. "I wasn't thinking anything!"

Kalivas' questioning eyebrow made her look away in shame for a moment, but he thankfully left it alone and continued. "I guess you figured out something when he first arrived here."

"Lucius? I know he smelled kind of… wait… that's what it was! Before you attacked him…he's…" She was so shocked she almost dropped Lucius' hand. "Is he related to you uncle?"

Kalivas nodded slowly. "Yes. In fact, he's my son."

For a moment, she thought she heard something break. It was the sound of her mind shattering at this news. Never before had she heard of her uncle having a son. Let alone a half-blooded son with someone of another race.

"What do you mean? When did you… what about the woman…" hundreds of questions filled her mind, but none of them could really come out.

"His mother is the one woman I loved, though I do not believe she ever loved me. For her, I believe I was a means to an end yet… I was with her long enough to create him. I never thought I would meet him. I was told he did not survive the birth… imagine… just…"

Something Kalliope had never imagined in her life greeted her. Tears. Tears from the face of her great, uncle Kalivas. To her, he was an unshakable hero, a force of power and might, the very representation of strength. Yet here he was, in front of her… crying.

She quietly laid Lucius' hand down beside him and walked over to her uncle. Kalliope gently wrapped her arms around him and gave him a wordless hug.

After a few moments, he patted her on the back to let him go. "Thank you."

"Of course."

"When he pulls through… you are to stay with him at all times. I'm not going to let him go this time. I was unable to be a father all these years… so the least I could do is protect him and train him to be stronger."

"What if the humans find out he's still alive?"

"They won't."

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A/N: Hi all! Thank you so much for reading! The beginning of the story and the origins for most of our cast has been laid bare! Please enjoy as we start Volume 2: Academies!