the start of an end

•°~enjoy~°•

The world of Pehirio was *weird*.

Like, the sky was always purple and full of lightning, but it never rained. The streets glowed green at night, and everyone acted like that was totally normal.

And everyone had a demon inside them.

Well—almost everyone.

Isabella walked down the broken road, her boots making a crunch sound on the cracked stone. She looked around, her eyes glowing a bit because of her demon, **Riven**. Riven was an *illusion* demon, which meant Isabella could make people see things that weren’t really there. Sometimes she did it for fun. Sometimes to scare people who tried to mess with her.

“Stop looking at me like that,” Isabella muttered to herself.

Inside her head, Riven laughed. *I’m not looking. You are.*

“Creepy,” she said, rolling her eyes.

She kept walking toward the giant city gates of Pehirio. The gates were black and spiky and looked like they could eat someone if they got too close. Guards stood there, each with their own demons flickering like colored smoke around them.

A guard with a snake tattoo on her face stepped forward. “Name?”

“Isabella.”

“Tribe?”

“I don’t have one,” Isabella said.

The snake hissed. “Everyone has a tribe.”

“Well, I don’t,” Isabella said again. She was getting annoyed.

The guard’s eyes glowed, and suddenly a *real* snake demon slithered out of her arm. It hissed at Isabella like it wanted to bite her.

Without thinking, Riven woke up inside Isabella’s mind. The air shimmered, and suddenly the guard saw her own reflection multiply a thousand times. She screamed and backed away, grabbing her head.

Then a deep voice said, “That’s enough.”

Everyone went silent.

A tall man in a red coat walked out from the shadows. His eyes were black but kinda shiny, and his hair was silver-white, like moonlight. The guards instantly bowed. Even their demons got quiet.

Isabella swallowed. “That’s… him, isn’t it?”

“The King,” someone whispered. “Satan.”

He looked at her with a smile that was both nice and scary at the same time. “An illusion user,” he said. “How rare.”

“I didn’t mean to—uh—scare your guard,” Isabella said quickly.

“Oh, I’m not angry,” Satan said, smiling wider. “Fear is a language I speak fluently.”

Okay, *definitely scary.*

“I just need to find someone,” she said, trying to sound brave.

“Who?” Satan asked.

“Someone named Sero.”

At that, Satan’s smile faded for a second. “Ah,” he said quietly. “Him.”

The gate opened behind her with a loud *creeeeak.*

“Go,” he said. “You’ll find him near the western ruins. But be careful, little illusionist… some truths are better left buried.”

And before she could say anything, he was gone—like he’d melted into the air.

---

Inside the city, everything looked even stranger. The buildings leaned sideways, lights floated without wires, and kids were chasing glowing bugs that whispered words when they flew by.

“Riven,” Isabella said. “This place is giving me the creeps.”

*That’s because it’s alive,* Riven whispered in her head.

“Stop saying weird stuff!” Isabella snapped.

She found the western ruins easily—it wasn’t hard since that part of the city looked totally destroyed. There were cracked statues and broken walls with weird writing all over them.

And there, sitting on some stairs, was a boy.

He looked maybe sixteen. Black messy hair, dirt on his face, ripped jacket. He was staring at his hands like they were broken or something.

“Uh… hi?” Isabella said.

He looked up, confused. “Do I know you?”

“No, but… I think I’ve seen you in my dreams. Or illusions. It’s complicated.”

“That’s creepy,” he said bluntly.

“Yeah, I get that a lot.” She sat next to him. “You’re Sero, right?”

“Yeah. And you are…?”

“Isabella.”

Sero nodded slowly. “You’re one of those demon people, huh?”

“Yeah. You’re… not?”

He shook his head. “No demon. Everyone thinks I’m a freak because of it.”

She blinked. “No demon at all?”

“Nope. Nothing inside me. Empty.”

Inside her head, Riven hissed. *That’s not true. Something sleeps inside him.*

“Uh…” Isabella said awkwardly. “My demon says you’re lying.”

“I’m not lying,” Sero said, frowning. “Why would—”

Then the ground rumbled. Dust fell from the broken temple roof.

“Okay, that’s not me,” he said quickly.

Isabella stood up. The ground under his feet started *glowing*, faintly green and gold.

“Uh, Sero?” she whispered. “I think that *is* you.”

“What?” He looked down—and the cracks in the stone spread out in circles around him.

Her demon’s power flickered on its own, showing her flashes under the skin of the world. For half a second, she saw something massive curled up beneath Sero—like scales, claws, and huge bones that didn’t belong in any human shape.

She gasped. “You’re not demonless. You’re—something else!”

Sero stumbled back. “What are you talking about—AH—!”

He dropped to his knees, holding his chest as light started burning under his skin. It looked like his whole body was trying to *change.*

“Riven!” Isabella shouted. “What do I do?!”

*Run,* her demon screamed. *He’s waking up!*

The light got brighter, the ground cracked wider, and a deep growl shook the air. It wasn’t human. It wasn’t a demon either.

It was older.

It was *ancient.*

And it came from Sero...

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