Daniel's Past

Many, many years ago

One that very day, a baby was born, though of course hundreds of babies are born every day, so that hardly comes as a surprise. But this baby...it was a very special baby. This baby was born a man of the demon race, and a woman of the human race. And the baby-a half human, half demon hybrid. The first of its kind in many, many years. The two named their son "Daniel Reaper." Daniel from the mom's side, and Reaper from the dad's side.

This woman knew that her husband was a demon, but loved them nonetheless. No one else knew that this couple was a match made in hell. This demon was Death, the Demon King, and the woman was a woman of great power, named Ruby Kaiser. She wasn't a Pro Slayer, but had Cursed Power that could rival any high ranking Slayer. Her Cursed Ability was one that allowed for the woman to turn her shadow into living creatures. Ruby knew that her husband was a demon, just not that he's Death, the Demon King.

The couple's marriage went smoothly for quite a few years, but Death constantly berated his wife to bear him a child. And one the woman gave Death a child, that's when the marriage took a turn for the worse. For years, Death used an alias, Maximillion Reaper, to hide his true identity to Ruby, and only told her that he was an average demon. But after giving birth to this warped child, Death told Ruby his true identity as Death, the Demon King. To his surprise, the woman wasn't afraid of this. She said that the soul loved her husband no matter what he was. But when their baby turned just four years old, the love ceased to a halt.

Day after day, every waking second the child had was spent training, getting stronger. Death led his son through rigorous exercises to build up his strength at a young age, and forced Ruby to teach the boy how to control shadows.

"You insolent fool!" Death shouts as he slaps Daniel, sending him hurtling towards the ground. Daniel whimpers as he rubs his stinging cheek, tears welling up in his eyes.

"What the hell, Max?! What was that for?!" Ruby screams. Max, the "alter ego" of Death, his more human disguise.

"After four years of training, the boy can't even manipulate his shadow into leaving creatures, only these useless little shadow sickles," Death explains, clearly annoyed by his son's shortcomings.

"Because he's a child! He's seven, for pete's sake!" Ruby snaps. "We have to send him to school with the other children his age! If we don't he'll never be able to become a genius, or successful, much less a valuable member of society!"

"I told you, woman! His Cursed Power training is far more important!" Death snaps back.

The child covers his ears. He didn't cry, since this argument is one that he's heard many times, but the loud noise did aggravate his young ears. He wasn't sure why he needed to go to school or why he needed to train, just that it was what his parents wanted from him.

"Why does it matter if our son learns Cursed Power?! I told you, I don't want for him to become a Pro Slayer, I want him to choose his path with his own two hands!" Ruby cries.

Death throws his head back in laughter. "Ruby, darling. Do you want to know why I married you?" Death asks.

"Stop dodging my question" Ruby sneers.

"First, answer my question, my dear," Death smiles back.

"Fine," Ruby replies with a sigh. "You said you mattered to me solely out of love, and that's what I believed for eight years. Am I wrong?" She asks.

"Quite wrong in fact," Death answers, causing his wife's eyes to widen.

"You are a strong woman, a woman filled to the brim with Cursed Power, and therefore had the potential to birth a child of great strength. That as well as your Cursed Ability -the ability to control shadows- is one fitting for the next in line to be Demon King!" Death cackles.

"The…Demon King?" Ruby softly asks, too star-struck to fully process Death's words.

"You know that I am a demon, my dear," Death begins to say. "But have you heard of the Demon King, Death?"

"Death…as in the leader of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? The demon from legend said to either destroy or bring great change to this world?" Ruby whimpers.

"That's right!" Death laughs as he plays his arms out to his sides. "That's the man you married! That's me!"

Ruby falls to her knees, burying her head in her hands. "Next in line to be Demon King...you never love me…" Ruby whimpers. The woman begins to cry, and cry, and cry. Daniel has never seen someone cry before, so he wasn't sure what to do in response. The child only knew that his mother was upset, hurting.

"Come, Daniel," Death says, as he takes his son's hand. "Let's train some more. Though I think now I may start to call you Death junior!"

Ruby's arm instantly shoots out, her hand latching onto her husband's ankle. "You are not taking my son anywhere," Ruby growls. "Daniel stays with me. Go find a new family to torture, we're leaving." Ruby then stands up, scoops her son up, and storms away from Death.

"Oh, I would do that if I were you…" Death smirks.

"What are you going to do, Max?!" Ruby shouts as she spins around to face her husband. "Just help us go! My son is not going to become the Demon King, ruler of those hideous beasts. You know, when I met you, I thought you were a good guy and that your son can grow up to be a mediator between humankind and demon king, but I know now that that was a silly pipe dream." Ruby begins to walk away again. 

"I really want to do that if I were you," Death growls, his voice growing so ominous that it causes Daniel to whimper.

Ruby gives her ex husband the middle finger before turning back around and continuing walking away.

"I REALLY WOULDN'T DO THAT IF I WERE YOU" Death roars. "Necromancy: Skull Maiden!" The bones of Death's rib cage shot out of the man's body. The white ivory spikes swiftly extended towards Ruby.

In response, Ruby's shadow begins slithering towards Death, before morphing into another form, a pitch black panther, which lets out a feral roar before charging Death, only to get instantly pierced by his bones.

Ruby doesn't scream, nor does she flinch. She simply places her child down, and smiles at him. "Daniel. You don't need to grow up to become strong, if you do not want to. You don't have to become the Demon King, a Pro Slayer, or anything of the sorts. Doctor, teacher, lawyer, garbage man, even." Ruby kisses her son on the forehead. "Goodbye, Daniel. No matter what path you take in life or whatever you end up doing, just remember…" Ruby begins to say. "That your mother will always be watching over you. I love you"

Death's spikes tear into Ruby's back, shredding her to bits. Daniel watches in silence as he's doused with the blood of his own mother. The child doesn't scream, nor does he cry, he simply gazes up at the beautiful crimson blood glistening in the afternoon sun. Slowly, Ruby's eyes flutter shut as she limply flops to the ground, her blood soaking into the grass at Daniel's feet.

Daniel watches as his mother's life slowly fades out of her body.

Death coughs, adjusts his tie, then walks up to Daniel, kneeling down before his son, and beside the corpse of his ex-wife. "Now, Daniel, what were we doing?" Death calmly asks, flashing Daniel a fake smile. Death…he isn't even the slightest bit fazed by the murder of his dead wife, or the trauma he causes to his son. "Oh, right! Training! Let's get back to work."

Daniel quivers as he stares up at Death, his father. And as he does…the veins on the right half of Daniel's body begin to glow black, causing Death's eyes to widen.

"Ah…perfect!" Death proudly exclaims. "The trauma of losing your mother has awakened your half-demon form! HAd I known, I would have killed her much sooner!"

Death lets out a hearty laugh, much to his son's dismay.

"I…" Daniel whispers, saying his first words to his father that day.

"I'll kill you…"

***

"That story..it's horrifying..." I softly say.

"And now you know why I want to kill my father, Death," Daniel replies. "And that is why once your soul ripens, you will be handing it over to me." Daniel's emotions and convictions remain unwavering, even after that traumatic story.

"But why?!" I cry. "Why don't we just team up and fight your dad together?! There are so many Pro Slayers out there who are willing to lay down their lives to help you kill your father! If you become a Pro Slayer, then why can you beat Death together, without shedding unnecessary blood!"

"Because Death is my target and my target alone!" Daniel roars. For the first time, he's getting worked up. "No one wants to kill Death more than me! No one's life was affected by Death more than mine! My only purpose in life is to kill my father, nothing more! Nothing else matters to me now, that is the path I chose! I won't let anyone else touch him!"