#alpheus toyonaga

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios Adventures

"Alpheus Toyonaga. The ruler of Strangetown, the conqueror of Great Demons. An excellent example of what could await in your future."

Reogus took a step forward and the entire world melted away. Theo could feel his entire being melt along with it, only to be swept up in another wave seconds later. When the world stopped spinning, Theo could see his body return to its normal size and height. He was a teen once more.

"Stop! You're not wanted here! Leave Strangetown and you can leave in peace."

A single soldier stammered before the demon, the last one of his squadron left alive. Theo could see the bodies of his colleagues strewn across the ground as the brave man waved his sword.

Alpheus didn't even bother responding to the man. He crossed his arms and drew an insane amount of power to his hands. Theo could see the demon's golden eyes glint in the darkness. There was nothing human in those eyes at all.

So this was what the blood demons looked like at their height. These were the beings that wrote the textbooks he studied at school. He could see why they had been destroyed and blood magic heavily restricted over the centuries. Raw, feral power flowed from him, overwhelming any being who had the misfortune of standing near him. This was an ancient, non-hybrid blood demon and Theo was quaking even watching this representation of Alpheus.

"Is this the Demon Wars?" he asked eagerly. "This is when Alpheus fell? This guy kills him?"

Reogus paused for a moment, waiting for the terrified soldier to summon all the magic he could in defiance of the demon. It took only seconds for Alpheus to make the smallest gesture with his hand, instantly twisting the man and snuffing out his life.

Theo gasped, staring at the corpse in front of him in horror.

"Why would you show me this? You should have jumped to the part where he loses. I don't need to see your own idea of a snuff film!"

Unknown to Theo, Adam watched the scene before him in horror. As far as Adam could remember, he had gone to bed in his dorm, and hadn't left the building. Still, if this was a dream, it was the most realistic one he'd ever had. He could smell the blood of the fallen soldiers, he could feel the bitting of the wind whipping around him. He'd tried to wave at Theo to grab his attention, but either his boyfriend couldn't see him or he was completely lost in the scene before him. At least Theo had a tour guide to assist him through this, Adam had simply woken up here unprepared.

"There are plenty of things in life that must be seen to understand," the warlock said, still ignoring Theo's patented Bellamy glare. "If I were to read you a textbook, the gravity of the past might escape you. Demons of the past killed without hesitation and often for their own amusement. This is what you are."

Theo physically recoiled at these words, shaking his head vigorously in protest.

"No, no, I'm not. These are full blooded demons a million years ago! I shouldn't have to keep telling people that I don't want to kill them!"

Adam smiled from his corner of this nightmare. Of course Theo wouldn't kill people on a whim like the demons of old. He wasn't even a full demon with their abilities. It looked like the old witches and warlocks used a bit of blood magic too, and as far as Adam knew, using blood magic didn't condemn them to be killers.

"Alpheus! That death wasn't on the list! You need to be stopped."

A hooded figure shouted angrily at the demon, holding a faint light above his head menacingly. Alpheus appeared to be confused for a moment, then when he recognized the figure, he let out an amused laugh.

"Go cry back to your mommy, Atem," the demon teased. "This isn't any business of a reaper. I'll do as I please."

The flicker of light above Atem wavered in his hands and for an instant, Theo could have sworn that he heard a whimpering voice call out, then suddenly silenced.

"That's someone's soul isn't it?" Theo whispered, his face suddenly ashen as he watched the scene before him.

"Blood magic feeds on every part of a living thing," Reogus noted. "There is dark demonic magic that feeds on the energy of souls, yes. There is dark magic that is fuelled by the natural processes of life. Eating or drinking, sex and childbirth, the separation of soul and body at death, these are all occasions where blood magic can excel. The unnatural perversion of an unauthorized death was an enticing target for your kind."

"Watch as he draws power from the same soul the reaper is trying to rescue," Reogus continued, as casually as if he were merely giving a lecture on the subject. "There is a power struggle between two creatures of enormous strength playing out here. Does the power belong to the demon who harvested the soul for his own use or to those sworn to guard the journey of souls to their resting place?"

Theo tried to avert his eyes from the demon before him, but it was no use. There was something stirring within the teen that couldn't help feeling drawn to the glow hovering around Alpheus' body. As a hybrid, Theo didn't feel the aching cold of a full demon, but his body still responded against his will as he felt the energy pulse before him. It was beautiful and tantalizing, warm and energetic all at once. Theo briefly thought of his friend Bronwen and the conversations they'd had about her vampiric pull towards fresh blood. Like Theo, she was a hybrid and would never have the same irresistible draw to blood that her mother did, but she was still called all the same. She had been drinking synthetic or donated blood in small quantities since her birth. There was no denying the way her breathing hitched when someone injured themselves and the smell of blood entered the air. Theo could feel that same irresistible draw as Alpheus struggled to retrieve his prey and small tendrils of energy spiraled out, desperate to escape.

"Focus! Feel the energy! How does it change your senses? How would you consume this energy for yourself? Can you feel the waves of competition fighting for control? Remember the sensation of Death and his minions and the way their powers burn against your own."

"I don't need to because I'm not going to be killing people," Theo insisted angrily. "T-this, this doesn't bother me."

There was no denying the change in Theo. His body called for the energy in front of him like it was water in a desert. It sang to him and the more he tried to ignore it, the louder it called.

"Try this, it should help. Not bad for a first try."

The mysterious warlock produced a large ball of energy from his hands and waved it in front of Theo. It wasn't the same size or colour or as powerful as the soul in front of him, but energy was energy. Theo extended his senses toward it, sighing as he could feel the comforting warmth melt into his skin.

"This is just a recreation of history, not the real thing," Reogus warned. "The real thing isn't going to be sated with a quick energy spell. It will call to you until you either consume it or drive yourself into madness trying to possess it. Coming of age means a great deal to a young blood demon. Your powers will mature and strengthen, and you may feel called to actions like this. You've already tied yourself to my powerful bloodline, and there is great potential for danger if you cannot master your emotions or turn away from temptations like this."

"Well, it's not like this is a common thing to run across these days," Theo protested, still feeling shaky despite the energy he'd consumed. "If I'm one of the only people practicing blood magic these days, I'll be fine."

Theo could hear the desperation in his own voice, begging for his words to be true. As much as he tried to ignore the way his body responded to something horrifying, there was no denying it.

"You may want to ask your instructors to replicate an exercise like this one going forward. Control is everything. Control over your desire for magic. Control over your fears and passions. Control over your own self. Even demon hybrids mature faster than their non demonic peers. Not as quickly as a full demon, but quick enough. You may experience the desires and draws that mature demons experience sooner than you might expect, and you must control them."

"Who will appear if I don't?" Theo asked worriedly. "Reapers? Other demons? Angels? Who won between Alpheus and the reaper?"

"See for yourself," Reogus replied, gesturing to the victorious reaper, basking in the light of soul who successfully passed on. "By this time, Lukas had been installed in their proper position as Life. The delicate balance of the world was beginning to heal. Though the Great and blood demons were still extremely powerful, they were still subject to the laws of nature. The reaper prevailed. To answer your other question, it would depend on what natural laws you were breaking. A reaper would come for a soul, the Sovereign might appear for a demonic offense. A witch or warlock wouldn't likely be summoned to deal with you, but a council member might take an interest. God help you if you attract an angel. There are only a handful of them left, but they're vicious creatures without remorse. I suppose Lukas does like to interfere with the living too, but they usually mean well. You'll be safest if you just learn to control yourself and stay away from situations that might draw supernatural attention."

"Now, try to fight this!" the warlock ordered, his attitude changing in an instant. He summoned two new glowing balls of energy, more piercing than the last and waited.

Theo couldn't even register what was happening to him, it was happening so fast. His body grew again into an adult size, warping and changing in the blink of an eye. Theo could feel the weight of his horns on his head once more and a feverish hunger for energy and blood.

"W-what? What's happening?"

"Just another exercise to practice," Reogus replied. His calm, reserved demeanor enraged Theo for reasons he couldn't name.

"I want it!" Theo shouted, reaching for the balls of energy in desperation.

"I can see that. What will you do when I refuse to hand it over? Will you kill me? Hurt me? How well can you control yourself?"

Something inside of Theo felt broken, and if he could just touch the energy before him, he knew that this aching feeling would heal. He'd never wanted something so strongly before and he barely knew what it was that he was aching for. Maybe as kid, Theo would have been safe from this all consuming desire, but in this adult body, with no one nearby to judge him, Theo allowed the feeling to overwhelm him. He needed this energy like he needed to breathe and suddenly the warlock's questions made sense. His rational mind could control itself and resist the temptation, but his mind was far from rational at the moment. He might hurt someone if they interfered with his prey. He certainly wouldn't kill anyone, but it would be dangerous for someone to get in his way.

"Theo?" Adam's whisper was barely audible as he watched his boyfriend change before his very eyes. Adam pressed against the heavy fence, trying to avoid detection. Whatever was happening here was dangerous and looked private. Adam wasn't sure why he was here at all, so not drawing attention to himself seemed to be the best option.

"Hybrids aren't supposed to feel the same draw to energy as regular demons," Theo managed to shout while trying to remain in control of himself. "It was why Dorhack wanted to experiment with hybrids in the first place! I don't feel this way, not ever! What are you doing to me?"

"Merely showing you who you are," Reogus responded. "You are tied to my bloodline. You descend from Great Demons. You practice blood magic and you are growing into your full powers. This is a warning. Can you try to turn away from this energy? Even if it's difficult?"

"No," Theo growled, gritting his teeth angrily. "No, I can't. I don't know why."

"Which is why you must push yourself to succeed. You have access to a great deal of magical and demonic power, Theo. You have had several incidents where you almost died because you could not control or release the energy that builds up in you. To survive, you must learn to let go of that power or share it with others."

"Can you help me now?" Theo whined, still struggling to remove himself from the energy with all of his strength. "I get the point. I don't feel so well. Can I just go home already?"

"Young Mr. Darktide. How pleasant to see you here. Unexpected, but nice. I don't see many Darktides these days."

Adam whirled around to find a strange woman smiling at him. It was unnerving the way she stared at him. Almost as if she knew him, but Adam couldn't place her in his memory.

"Have we met?" he asked cautiously. "Can you see me? I'm not sure what I'm doing here exactly. Am I dreaming? Can Theo see me?"

The woman smiled again, looking at Adam as if he were a toddler.

"They can't see you, no. You're hitchhiking here across the realm of dreams. I hate those time warlocks. They think that they make the rules and can do anything they want. Well, they can't and when they try, things like this happen. Guess who has to fix things then? Always me."

"I'm sorry, I don't know how I got here," Adam said politely. "I'm pretty sure I just went to bed and appeared here...right?"

The woman smiled kindly and Adam's fears began to ease. She wasn't a threat, or at least he was guessing as much. The way that she looked at him seemed friendly, almost curiously if he had to guess. He was an amusing diversion from her regular life, something new to interact with.

"You're tied to that little demon over there," the woman explained, pointing in Theo's direction. "He was summoned here with enough power to trigger your connection and now you're here! Just another loose end those warlocks leave for me when they're done playing with my realm. That one especially. He's a Maricourt alright. No sense of boundaries or of the work it takes to maintain the realm of dreams."

"So I'm stuck in Theo's dream because we're connected? That-that doesn't happen often, right? There are some...dreams I'd prefer he doesn't see."

The woman winked at the teen playfully and laughed.

"No, this is just the time witches having fun again," she assured Adam. "Without the ability to manipulate time and space, you will never accidentally end up here. Theo was brought here for a purpose, and you're just a complication."

"Who are you? Is this place dangerous? Can you help Theo escape here?"

"I am Luna, Guardian of Dreams," the woman replied. If she was offended by the question, Adam couldn't see it in her body language. If anything, she looked even more excited to see him than she had earlier. "Princess Luna St. Julien, to be exact. My father, King Reyes St. Julien, ruled Crystal Cove until my older sister ended the Pleasantview Civil War and became empress of Crystal Cove and Pleasantview. We're not so far removed, you and I. My father just happens to be your great-great grandfather."

"The Civil War ended centuries ago," Adam argued wearily. This would be an interesting dream if he didn't have the sinking sense that this dream wasn't somehow based in reality. "There have been at least five generations of monarchy in Crystal Cove post empire alone. There's no way that we're that closely related."

Luna shrugged.

"I never said anything about the lifespans of our family or when they had their children. As you can see from my excellent magical skills, I'm proof that our family has unlimited potential. Your specific branch of the family tree has less, but it's better than most families. The Darktides that I knew, including the man my father loved, were all powerful demons. No Great Demons of course, but a large chunk of them had the same gold eyes as Alpheus over there and the same potential for power. Tristan Darktide, your ancestor, could travel deep in the Void on a whim. Nice guy, though."

"No way!" Adam protested quickly. "My mom has never mentioned demonic relatives once. We're Tredony pirates and powerful magic users, not demons."

"Who? Edana Darktide? Endless dreams of fire and blood in the desert sand? It's plausible that she doesn't know, now that you mention it. My sister's reign culminated in many dark days for the Darktides. Edana may not know. I suppose that is a secret you may want to think about telling her some day, if you think it's best."

Adam blinked, unable to process everything that was being thrown at him by the queen of this nightmare. Theo was accidentally dragging him across the realm of dreams and his family apparently had demonic ancestry and a genetic link to some sort of demigod. Was there a potential for him to become a demigod too? How did ascending to such a position work? Where you born different or did you ascend later on? If this dream wasn't so painfully realistic, Adam would have bet money on this whole thing being a terrible nightmare.

Luna shot an angry look over her shoulder where Theo was still speaking in hushed tones with Reogus.

"Well, this has gone on for far too long," she decided. "I'll have to send you home first and deal with the warlock after. It's too complicated otherwise, but don't worry, you'll see your boyfriend soon enough. I wish you two kids the best and hopefully, I won't find you wandering this plane again."

With a snap of her fingers, Adam disappeared from view. He awoke in his bed, gasping for breath, looking for the strange princess he'd just been talking to.

"What the hell? Was that a dream or...."

He trailed off, looking across the room to find Theo still fast asleep in his bed.