Forcing myself to my feet, I shoved myself in front of Dorian. He stumbled slightly, pressing himself into the back corner of the cell. I balled my hands into fists. I couldn't use my power, but I could at least put up a fight.

A figure appeared in front of me, a hood pulled over their hair and a mask covering their face. I dug my nails into my palms to keep myself from panicking. They had a knife, they had their power. They could easily overpower me.

The figure scanned me, stepping back slightly and muttering something under their breath. I couldn't make out what they said.

They waved their hand, the door swinging open. Before I could move to grab Dorian and run, the figure grabbed my hand and tugged. Dorian looked terrified, a panicked whimper escaping his lips when I was dragged out and the door was locked behind me.

He backed himself even further up against the wall, trembling slightly. The figure let out a dark chuckle before dragging me away from the cell.

~~~~~

I knew better than to struggle, but I couldn't fight the rising panic and nausea in my chest.

The figure tugged me down a deserted corridor, flicking their gaze sideways to make sure that no-one was approaching us.

They turned to face me, dropping my wrist.

"...Via?"

I blinked. I had been so careful to keep everything about me secret, the only person I had ever truly spoken to in years had been Dorian.

But... I knew that voice.

"Is that—It is you, right?"

I didn't move. It couldn't possibly be him.

He sighed, glancing along the corridor again quickly before slipping his mask off of his face.

His eyes were a vibrant red, his face older than how I remembered. But there was no doubt about who he was.

"Kaye?" He nodded.

"How are you..." I trailed off, not wanting to voice the last part of that sentence.

"Still alive?" A harsh, mirthless laugh. "Luck, I suppose. I got hired as a guard after I escaped the Light Realm. We don't have much time, they'll be expecting me to bring you up soon. I...I'm sorry, I'd try to get you out if I could, but—"

"It's fine, it doesn't matter. Gods, I can't believe..."

He nodded, understanding what I meant without having to hear it. He fixed his mask back onto his face, hugging me quickly before grabbing my wrist and taking off in the direction of a flight of stairs.

~~~~~

He was alive. My childhood best friend. Alive.

He had been my only friend, the only person to have stuck by my side through everything. He had been forced to run away when he received his eye colour, his parents had passed him off as dead.

I kept my head down, kept a mask of indifference on my face. On the inside, despite everything, I was almost... Happy. I knew that he would be different, that's he had changed, but... I couldn't help but hope that he was still the person I had known, that he would still want to be my friend after all these years.

He shoved me in front of a door, whispering a quiet sorry into my ear as I tripped slightly.

He raised his fist, hesitating slightly before knocking sharply.

"Enter."

I forced myself to take a calming breath, preparing myself for whatever was about to happen.

Kaye heaved the door open with his shoulder, pushing me inside.

A girl sat against a window, posture perfect. Her golden hair fell around her shoulders, and she looked to be about 20. Her eyes were the colour of burnt gold.

She clasped her hands, slowly turning towards me. A smirk formed across her features as she disappeared.

She reappeared in front of me, tugging me further into the room. She made a vague gesture of dismissal towards Kaye, and I heard the soft tapping of his boots against the marble floor as he left.

I prayed that he would get Dorian out.

I clenched my jaw as she shoved me again, fighting to keep myself from struggling against her. If I appeared compliant, I would be trusted. If I was trusted, then there was a higher chance of escaping.

"Well. When I heard that someone had finally found the Demon Heir, I didn't think that you would be so... Weak." She smirked, opening her mouth to continue.

I stopped her, raising my hand and bringing it down against her cheek. Hard.

As soon as I'd done it, I realised my mistake. She had been baiting me, and I had fallen into her trap without anything more than a sentence. I was an idiot.

However, instead of the anger I had expected, she looked proud. Triumphant.

"So you do have some fight in you."

I stared.

She smirked, eyes lighting up as she surveyed my annoyance.

Instead of the rage, the pure anger I thought I'd see, she looked proud.

"Demon Heir indeed. We want you on our side. You were supposed to take your place years ago, but... We have agreed that late is better than never."

I froze. I had no idea what to say, what to do.

I wasn't the Demon Heir they expected.

Was I?

Our eye colour didn't determine who we are.

Did it?

I didn't know what to say, so I glared at her, folding my arms across my chest.

"I hate to break it to you, but you don't have a choice. Who's the prisoner here, love?"

I ran a gloved hand through my hair. Fighting was too risky, I had no way to use my powers, and she had two twin longs words a strapped to her back, and would likely have back up nearby.

I sighed. I truly did have no choice.

"Free the boy. I'll come willingly if you do, but I'm not moving unless he is freed."

It was a simple deal, and he would be of little use to her. I prayed to whatever forgotten Gods were still listening that she would comply.

She glared at me, snapping her fingers at her side.

"Fauna."

A girl appeared through a second doorway almost instantly. Her eyes were a beautiful burnt orange, almost as if her eyes themselves were on fire. Flames crackled at her heels as she walked towards us, the only sound in the otherwise deathly silent room.

"Tell the guard to free the boy."

I breathed out slowly.

My relief was short lived.

~~Dorian~~

I pressed my knees to my chest, sat in the corner of the cell. I would die here.

And the girl...

I prayed that she was okay, that she would survive. She had been the only person to bother with kindness, she had been willing to help me.

For all I knew, the guard was going to kill her.

When we were found, the only thing that people stopped to notice were her eyes. They hadn't bothered to look past the fact that she was the new Demon Heir, hadn't bothered to notice that despite what they were doing to us, she hadn't used her powers once.

We were nothing but Demons.

At home, I had been expected to have green eyes, maybe pink. But no.

Black.

My power could be used for nothing but murder. No wonder I had been forced to leave my realm.

I was dragged out of my thoughts by the sound of heels tapping against the cold floor.

Two pairs.

I pressed myself into the wall, trying to make myself invisible. The same masked guard from before appeared, alongside a girl. She was tall, her eyes the colour of fire. Flames flared around her heels.

I sucked in a breath as they halted at the door to my cell.

The figure pointed, leaning closer to the girl to mutter something into her ear.

The girl blinked, an emotion that I couldn't identify flitting across her face. A second later, it was gone, almost as if it had never been there in the first place.

"You're kidding. He's the one she asked us to free?"

The figure muttered something again, shrugging their shoulders.

"Give me the keys, then go back to Ivory. She'll wants you there as soon as possible." The figure nodded, slipping their hand into their pocket and pulling out a set of small keys. They dropped it into the girl's waiting hand before leaving.

"What's your name?"

I blinked, panicking.

She raised her eyebrows, crossing her arms. The keys jangled in her hands.

"I—It's Dorian." My voice was small, rasping. Pathetic.

She nodded, sighing softly.

"You don't know who I am, do you?"

I blinked, looking at her properly. I shook my head.

"Well, I suppose that's for the better. Don't come back here unless you want to be killed."

She pressed the key into the lock, opening the door and waving a hand at my gloves. Black smoke gathered at them, the chains around my wrists snapping and sliding to the floor. The gloves came off after it.

"If you ever figure out who I am...Find me. I can wait."

I hesitated before nodding, shoving myself to my feet. Staggering slightly, I leaned on the wall for support. She rolled her eyes, grabbing my wrist and tugging me forwards, hurriedly pushing me towards the stairs leading outside.

~~~~~

Okay, I'm not proud of this chapter. I might rewrite it if I can be bothered, but eh. I'm lazy.

I've been designing my characters for this story, so I'll post them in like, 10 minutes. Please point out any typos/errors I have if you see any, I typed this pretty quickly, so.

Thanks for reading, would mean a lot if you commented/voted!

Seeya!