Lyan
When I opened my eyes I was still in the bathtub, my whole body soaking wet and wrinkled from all the time I had spent in the warm water, which hadn't cooled down even after hours had passed.
Yawning, I was still kinda sleepy, I got up and away from the tub and put on my clothes, which were a pair of pretty green slippers and a blue shirt and pants that reached up to my ankles and perfectly complimented my figure, showing all my curves.
I looked myself in the mirror and after combing my hair for almost ten minutes, it was a complete disaster!, I was finally satisfied with my reflection.
Not having nothing better to do, I couldn't open the wall to get out by myself, and having no way to distract myself I looked around the room and found what I was looking for.
I was happily rocking myself in the toy horse, which was surprisingly resistant, moving forward and backwards when Ashmoder entered my room. At first I didn't even notice him as I rocked back and forth, completely happy with life. Whoever said toys were only for children was wrong! It was so much fun as adults too.
When Ashmoder finally coughed I looked away from the horse's head and into the wall, where dad was leaning against it with a smile on his face.
" Did you sleep well?" He asked while still grinning.
" Yeah, and you?"
Ashmoder's eyes shone as an answer to my question.
" I've slept well, but I really, really doubt you've slept well in the bathtub" He said in a happy tone.
How did he know I had slept in the tub? Could he really read thoughts, or did he have so much control over the castle that he knew of every single thing that took place there?
While asking those questions I looked down and saw my hair still wet and my fingers looking like prunes. Maybe he didn't know it all.
" I've slept well, but more importantly" I deflected " how was your date with Els?"
" Date?" Dad looked at me confused, as if he couldn't understand what I was talking about.
So that was how he wanted to play it? Okay, two could play that game.
" Your business venture" I corrected.
Dad still looked confused, but answered in a low tone " It was okay, I guess"
" Where did you go?" I asked, swinging my feet up and down in the horse. This was definitely fun. I didn't get why adults weren't supposed to have toys.
" To the study?" Dad said hesitantly. I knew a lie when I heard one and what dad had just said was definitely a lie.
" Okay" I said in my most suggestive tone.
Dad looked at me weird, as if my questions had no relationship between them whatsoever and I was crazy.
" I'm not crazy" I muttered under my breath. I was tired of getting those kind of looks from everyone just because their common sense was different from mine.
" Of course you aren't" Dad was by my side in a split second, crouching down to be at eye level with me.
I knew I wasn't crazy, but I appreciated him saying it too.
" Well, what are you here for?" I asked, getting off of the horse.
" Do I need a reason to see me own daughter?"
Instead of answering I just raised an eyebrow and he sighed.
" I'm here for your training" I immediately perked up from where I was standing slouched against a wall. " Didn't you say you wanted to be trained?"
" Yes, I do"
" Then, let's go" Dad offered me his arm and I took it, leaving my room and starting walking through the halls of the big castle.
" Just how big is the castle?" I asked, truly astonished at the sheer length and width of the structure. We had been walking for over half an hour and still hadn't reached the training area, and the day I had tried to scape I had walked the whole night and still couldn't find the exit.
" It's not that big, the one in the Yera mountains is bigger " Dad said nonchalantly as he guided me through the corridors, taking all the stairs down, taking us lower and lower, deep into the castle's underbelly.
What did he just say? Not that big? I looked around a few times, dumbfounded. It was that big. Just how gigantic was his other castle for him to dismiss this one as tiny?
I just stared at Dad as he chuckled and ruffled my hair with his free hand.
" Here we are. The training grounds"
The area dad was pointing to was a big expanse of sand inside the castle. It was as if someone had cut a piece of the marble castle and the put some sand over it as decoration. On one of the walls on the far side there was a shelf filled with all kinds of weapons, ranging from swords, and axes to bows and daggers, but curiously enough there were no guns.
" Where are the guns?"
As soon as I asked that dad turned to look at me and tilted his head, as if he didn't understand. Now how should I describe a gun?
I thought for a few seconds and came up with the perfect explanation.
" The pieces of metal that can send shards of metal flying at incredible speeds with just a bit of gunpowder"
My explanation didn't seem to be good enough, because dad still looked at me confused.
" The thing that goes pium, pium" I said, mimicking a gun with my hands." You know"
" I'm sorry, bunny. If it's human technology we don't have it here"
" Why?" I asked. Humans could be annoying, but I didn't see why anyone would say no to free and great technology such as a gun. In my humble opinion it was way better than a dagger, and had way more destructive power too.
" Most of human artifacts need human resources that we don't have here to work" That made sense.
As he spoke he neared the rack with the weapons and picked up two daggers, then he faced me and gave me one.
" Are we starting now?" I asked, confused.
I thought Ruan would join us. He was always around dad at all times. Now that I thought about it I hadn't seen him since yesterday night, when he had made a mess.
Just as dad was going to answer my stomach rumbled. That was right, I hadn't had any breakfast. Just as I thought about it I finally felt the hunger.
" Here you go" Dad handed me a tray filled with something close enough to cereals for me to try it and some juice.
I devoured it all as dad sat down on the floor and propped his head against his hand, watching me intently as I ate.
Once I finished dad took the tray and put it aside as he grabbed his dagger, which he had left on the floor, and I grabbed mine.
" Aren't we going to wait for Ruan?" I asked, genually curious.
" He is busy" Dad said with a devious grin on his lips.
" With what?" I had never seen any of them do anything besides annoying me.
" He's... taking care of the dogs" Dad answered after barely hesitating.
" Do you have dogs?" I asked hopefully. I loved all kind of animals. They were so cute. " Can I see and pet them?"
" I one have one, and you've already seen him. About petting him I'm not sure, but I'm sure that he'll let you if you ask nicely"
I had seen the dogs, when? But more importantly, I could pet them!
" Can you bring me to them later?" I asked with my best puppy eyes.
" As soon as his training is finished I will" Dad said with a grin. " But right now it's training time" He said as he dropped his stance and attacked me in one fluid motion.
I barely managed to dodge in time, but dad was already all over me, swinging his dagger at my face. I tilted my head on time and swung my own dagger, aiming at his heart, but dad was too fast. In a movement that I never saw coming he dropped to the floor and my dagger passed just right above him, without even scratching him.
When I saw I had failed I lowered my dagger just in time to meet with his. The two metals clancked as they went face to face, but holding that position was too difficult. All it took was a slip and the other dagger would pass right through mine, hitting me on the flesh. I held the position for as long as I could, but I could feel my strength dwindling, I wasn't that strong. I knew I wouldn't last long if the duel went this way, and I wanted to win, and perhaps more importantly to not get hurt, but winning was important too.
Not wanting to get hurt I used a move that I had seen Oscar do thousands of times and run away as fast as I could, watching my back through the corner of my eye. From it I could see dad coming at me, not running but not walking either.
Just when he was a few feet away I turned in a fluid motion and crouched, letting his whole body stay above mine. Then I used his momentum against him and flung him with all my strength over my shoulder.
Dad fell to the floor hard. Not wanting to let go of the opportunity I run to where he was as fast as I could and pressed my dagger against his neck, triumphant. Sweat was trickling down my spine and my whole body hurt from the duel, but I had done it! I had defeated the demon King!
A stupid smile spread all over my face as I looked down at my father, the most powerful demon of all times, looking up at me with pride.
I was basking in my victory when suddenly the world tilted and I was on the floor, watching dad stand in front of me with his dagger to my neck. What the fuck?
I moved my head and dad let go of his dagger, dropping it to the floor. Then he offered me his hand and helped me get up.
" How'd you do it?" I asked. I definitely wanted to know his technique. It was amazing.
" I'm going to tell you a secret" He whispered into my ear.
I stood still, waiting patiently for the secret. Would he tell me the technique to defeat all enemies? Would I finally be able to gain the title of the most powerful demon? I had given up on the mage one long ago.
" The world isn't fair" He said as magic gathered all around him and made me float in the air, a few feet from the ground.
" Ahhhhh!!!" I screamed before I realized what was happening, but when I did I started giggling. This was fun.
I swung my whole body, moving my legs and arms, to propel myself forward and managed to move a few feet on my own before dad called back his magic and I was sent back to the ground.
I pouted for a second, I really wanted to fly again, I had finally gotten the trick of it, but went back to normal as soon as I processed what Dad had said while I was too entranced by flying to hear.
" Will you really take me back to the forest?" I asked in disbelief. He was the one that had dragged me out of there just yesterday.
" I will, but in exchange you'll have to have dinner with me. Deal?" He asked, offering me his hand.
I shook it as hard as I could and he laughed as both of us appeared suddenly in the middle of the forest.
I looked around and was once again marvelled by the amount of plants and animals I could see around. Not even one of them was from Earth. All were as unique and special as all the other creatures that lived in this world, as the demons.
" So pretty" I said, touching everything I could while dad stood guard besides me.
I wasn't stupid enough to think the forest was safe, but thanks to my built-in bodyguard no dangerous creature, or more like no creature at all, dared come close to me.
" Take this" I told Dad as I handed him a beautiful three colored flower. The petals were a mix of blue, red and yellow and the stem was all purple, but what had called me in about it was the smell. It smelled just like the secret garden I had discovered back at the academy, just like sunshine and everything warm and good.
" Do you like it?" Dad asked, twirling the flower in his hand.
" Yes. I love it"
Dad didn't answer back. Instead he stared at the flower, as if it contained all the secrets in the universe as I continued searching for more.
By when the suns reached three quarters of the sky I had a fairly great amount of flowers and my clothes were stained green. Besides my stomach was grumbling and I was hungry.
Not seeing anything else to do, I couldn't just scape with dad here, I turned to face him.
" Can we go back now?"
" Sure" As soon as dad said those words the whole area wrapped and the forest disappeared, but not before I saw something yellow shining behind a bush.
Just as the forest finally went away I could've sworn I saw Jack standing right in front of me, moving his lips, but whatever he wanted to say was lost to the wind as the world went away.
Just what the fuck was that? Were the guys really in hell? That couldn't be, right? They had to be safe at home, right? Panic started forming all over my system and I started hiperventilating. My guys were at home, safe. The couldn't be in the demon world, right?
" Bunny?" Dad's concerned question brought me back into reality. No matter what I had seen there was nothing I could do, I'd have to investigate later on, so I just looked at him and nodded, pretending to be okay while a raging storm went on inside me.
" Do you want to eat something?" Dad asked, pointing to a new tray in the middle of the training room that had appeared either by magic or by spontaneous generation, though I was betting on the former.
" Why don't we go to the dinning hall?" Eating from trays was great and all, but only for a while. At some point it became boring and annoying.
" Because we're training after we finish eating" Dad said matter of factly.
That was new information. I thought the training had ended the moment we had taken an excursion outside.
I sighed as dad passed me a tray and he picked his own. We sat down on the floor and began eating. I tried to take my mind off of the guys as I ate the meat. 'It's all in your head' I told myself, finally letting it go and allowing my mind to think about other things.
As soon as we were done eating dad handed me the dagger. I looked at it and sighed again. This was going to be a loooong day.