You're a Monster*

"Someone that's just like me." Dante quietly replied. Serah just stared at him and her mind became clouded and collapsed onto his arms. She was right when she said that they had the same darkness. Her body was even emitting the same miasma as his own.

It wasn't even a few hours ago that he wanted to kill her. But in that mere few hours, she made an impact on him and he didn't like it, he teleported into her room in the castle. He only knew of her room because it was the first place he had to go to get her scent to capture her. He sets her on her bed and when he was about to leave, he turned to his side and gazed at her one last time.

"His majesty awaits for you." Alex waited outside Serah's room. Dante noticed the fear in his eyes. He was all talk but no bite. He shoved his hands in his pocket and strolled to the throne room.

"YOU HAD ONE MISSION! AND YOU FAILED IT!" A voice roared. Athena, the queen of the demon realm was in a fit of rage. Her eyes matched the color of her hair, blood red. No one messed with her when she was angry and now her target was the three soldiers that she had sent to earth.

Ryan, Claire, and Devan

Ryan; also known as Prince Skythe, second Prince to the kingdom. He chose to bear the wrath of his mother. He was the only one from the group to change his appearance to enter Terrae.

Claire and Devan had always cloaked themselves in the demon realm, so going undercover on Terrae was an easy task. In the demon realm, they were known as the twin moon assassins and were the personal guards for Prince Skythe.

"That's enough Athena!" King William walked into the throne room, marching past Dante and straight for the throne.

The king had an intimidating aura of power that sent the other five occupants in the room to their knees. His luster-filled eyes scanned the five of them and then lifted into a smile that didn't reach his eyes. His shoulders were taut and his posture screamed soldier as if he was ready for war to happen.

"From what I can tell, they have already succeeded in their missions. The three of you will be rewarded for your achievement. For now, go rest. You three are dismissed."

Skythe looked unsure; he knew that the mission had somehow failed. He walked out of the throne room, Claire and Devan following suit.

"Dante, I thank you for bringing Serah back safely. I assumed that her human self has dissipated. And the miasma in the air is enough proof that she has returned to her demon self."

The king replied waving his hand through the air. The remaining miasma was sucked up in his hand and he crushed it.

"Your majesty, now that I have completed the mission. I want to know something-" Dante was cut off. He hated being cut off but kept his tongue from speaking. He was after all in front of the king of the entire realm.

"You want to know about Serah's power." King William sighed. Queen Athena abruptly stood up from her throne.

"I will attend to Skythe and my other children." She spoke, leaving the two alone. There was tension in the air. Dante didn't want to be caught in their argument but it seemed the King didn't care if she was there or not.

"As you may have noticed, she can control the power of darkness. Unlike any other demon, her power is on a whole other level, making her the most powerful demon in all of history. You must be thinking as to why she was on Terrae. That girl ran away and thought that hiding would make her escape her destiny. But destiny has a funny way of embracing her."

He stood up from the throne and walked towards the glass window. Dante remained silent listening to the tale but he knew that deep down, there was something off about her.

"Because of the darkness that she has, everyone cowers around her. She can turn everything around her to ash with just the click of her fingers. And because of this, she has to be closely guarded at all times."

'That must be lonely.'

Loneliness...

She was just like Dante. Ever since he could remember, he was always an outcast, a scourge of society. He had to learn everything the hard way, surviving on his own in the wild.

"This brings me to my next question..." He turned around to face him. Dante was on full alert now.

"A couple of months from now, there's going to be a lunar eclipse. From now till then Serah needs to be watched carefully. So will you be her bodyguard? I've heard plenty about you and I know you can hold your own against her. And also, the reason you came to this kingdom is that you're in search of something or someone."

There was something that he searched for... but for many years, he's been looking. Why should he even be her guard... she was perfectly capable of handling everything on her own even if she seems timid at times. Dante wondered if he should take on this job or carry on his journey. Cause he already completed the task of bringing her to the castle.

"I will give you three days to think about it." The king spoke.

"With all due respect, your majesty, I not only want to know the secrets that surround the princess. I want to know what happened between the light and dark realms. But before that, I have a proposal for you, so let's talk business." Dante replied with so much confidence. The king obliged and the two walked to the library.

•°•°•°•

A few days had passed by and Serah still lay unconscious. And her dreams turned to nightmares, a never-ending cycle of torture from her mind.

'Why do you always hurt everyone around you!?'

'You should just die!'

'No one cares about a person like you!'

'You're a monster!'

"Stop it... please stop!"

She awoke, gasping. She clutched her head.

"Serah?" A little girl stepped into the room. Serah looked up hazily.

"You're finally awake big sister." Her red hair bounced behind her.

Big sister...

"Aremiah?"

A smile burst through her face as she ran and jumped onto the bed. She jumped into Serah's arms. Serah's vision cleared and she stared at the younger girl.

"I missed you so much."

"You still remember me..." Serah's lips trembled and she hugged the little girl back. She had quickly forgotten her nightmare

"I'm so glad that you've returned. I knew you would come back." Aremiah said in low sniffles. Even though she had tears in her eyes, she still smiled. Serah felt a pang in her chest. She had forgotten about the little redhead.

She ran away when Aremiah was four years old. Even for her small age, Aremiah loved her big sister and she was the only person in the entire kingdom that accepted Serah.

"Big sister, you're really pretty." Her words made Serah smile.

"You've grown so big; I thought you wouldn't remember me."

Aremiah giggled and jumped out of the bed and brought something that was under the bed. It was a jewelry box.

"You gave this to me before you left and I've kept it hidden ever since."

It was a phoenix hairpin, with golden patterns around it. Serah took it in her hands, admiring it. She remembered the hairpin; she always kept it since she was little. It was a treasured item of hers and she gave it to her little sister for safekeeping. She never expected her to hide it in her room.

"Don't you hate me for leaving you?" She whispered.

"No big sister, I was sad that you left but-"

"AREMIAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH HER?"

The door was slammed opened and Athena strolled into the room. She glared at Serah and if looks could kill, then the glare that she was giving her, would have put Serah 10 feet into the ground.

Aremiah quivered and latched her hands around Serah's arm. She quickly took notice of this and glared at her stepmother, challenging her.

"You should have knocked first before entering. It's impolite to just barge into a person's room. You taught all your children manners, you should set an example." Serah plastered a smile on her face. Athena was now fuming with anger. She despised Serah, she wanted her dead.

"Aremiah come with me now!" A silent warning was hidden within those words and Serah knew what she would do. She got out of bed and entwined her hands with her sister's. Now she stood face to face with Athena. Serah knew all too well what Athena was capable of and she never wanted Aremiah to go through that.

"Let go of my daughter you monster." Athena seethed.

"You should think of who the monster is right now. You barged into my room and demanded Aremiah to come with you. If anyone is the monster, it's you." Serah said so calmly which shocked her at how calm she was.

"Please stop..." Aremiah whispered and stepped forward in between Serah and her mother. The little red-headed girl pleaded with her arms outstretched shielding Serah from her mother.

"Aremiah..." Serah said as Athena glared at her daughter. Athena grabbed her daughter's hands and dragged her away from the room.

'No...'

'Not again... I won't allow them...'

Athena and Aremiah were already down the hallway when Serah burst out of the room.

She halted in her footsteps when the guards burst through and surrounded her. Their blades pointed at her throat.

"Serah dear... you should be careful... you were gone for such a long time, a lot has changed." Athena hissed and turned to look at her.

"Anyone can slide out of anywhere and end you."

And with those words, they walked away leaving her alone in the hallway.