Second Chance in the Demon Kingdom

Caro couldn’t help it. She couldn’t stop the tears she was shedding from forming. She couldn’t stop looking at the person beneath her, the person she wanted to kill with her every being. She couldn’t stop this aching pain in her heart. She couldn’t help… not be angry with said person.

“Why…?” she choked out. “Illusion or not… why are you not fighting back?!”

Illusion Ruby laid there, staring back at her friend’s crying face, with Caro’s blade embedded into the ground, so close to her neck.

“Isn’t killing me what you’ve always wanted?” she asked the human. “I thought you hate us, more than you’ve hated everyone else, enough to kill us both.”

“That’s not the point!” The way she said it, if Caro was still enraged with her, she would’ve taken it as Ruby mocking the human. But she didn’t. If anything, it sounded more like she accepted her fate.

“You’re crying. Can it be because… you’ve been lying to yourself all this time? Because you’ve convinced yourself how much you hate us just to make it easier for you to forget who we really are?”

“What are you talking about?” Caro questioned back. She saw and felt the tears continuing to form and fall and wiped them away, only for them to continue. “Stupid tears… Why am I crying? I hate you both… I want to kill you both! But why… Why does it hurt to even think that…?”

Finding it safe to be near her now, Illusion Alex approached and gave Caro a comforting hug. It was then, the girl broke down, leaning against his chest and cried her heart out. Illusion Ruby moved the sword away and joined in on the hug.

******

Back in reality, Caro’s body fought hard against the Demon King. Ever since he released what seemed to be his sword’s true form, his majesty fought stronger and harder than the prince and their soldiers had ever seen him. Not only that; compared to just earlier, the human was having some real trouble going up against the king now, more so than back at her execution trial against the prince.

’If I keep this up, I should be able to buy Caro enough time to finish those trials,’ the king thought. ’I only hope she hurries it up. I can only hold her body off for so long without accidentally killing her.’

Unfortunately for him, some of his soldiers had other ideas.

The moment Caro was airborne, one demon soldier shouted, “NOW!” That one shout, he and several other demons all took up their weapons and charged at the human.

The king and the prince widened their eyes at their outburst. “Idiots! Stop!” the latter shouted.

However, the warning came too late, especially with what came next. Caro’s sword glowed and, in the blink of an eye, changed. With an aerial spin attack, she struck the ground below, unleashing a powerful shockwave that blew back all the soldiers that came at her. What surprised the demons, however, wasn’t the fact that she easily blew them all back, but…

“Where did she get that axe?!” the prince gasped in shock.

As he said, in ‘Caro’s’ hand was not her sword, but a large axe. The handle was about the same height as her, and the bladed part was huge and seemed quite durable.

‘Caro’ landed on her feet, twirling her new weapon around as though it weighed nothing, before setting it down by her side.

The Demon King winced at the sight. When he saw the hilt take up a form of a sword, he thought it wasn’t the only weapon it could transform into. After all, if it was a sword, it would’ve just taken up the form of it in the first place instead of a hilt. But still… to think that it could truly change into different weapons. No… Not only that…

’That weapon… Has it… been holding back its true power?’ the king wondered in shock.

As if reading his mind and answering the question, the weapon glowed and returned to its sword form. Once the change was done, it glowed for a Blade Burst, in which ‘Caro’ then shot towards his majesty via Sonic Strike.

The Demon King, aware of how the Blade Burst works, brought his axe in front of him to block the attack. It would’ve worked… if the weapon didn’t change at the last second into a staff, jabbing one end to the floor and hoisting the girl in the air high above her opponent.

Changing the weapon back into a sword, ‘Caro’ spun and landed a deep cut in the king’s back. Once on her feet, she changed her blade into a spear, turned to her opponent, and charged in to end his life. The king managed to turn and swipe his axe in a reverse slash, deflecting the blow and pushing the possessed human back.

Just as she skidded to a stop, the Demon Prince, refusing to see his father be beaten by a human, rushed in to attack her with his broadsword, in which ‘Caro’ blocked with her own sword.

“Son! What are you doing?!” the king shouted.

“What’s it look like, father?! Right now you are badly injured. Should you continue to fight this human alone, and she will kill you! I don’t know what sort of plans you have for her to keep her alive, and I don’t care! I will fight with the intention to kill her, just as I should’ve back at her execution! And now… I will fix that mistake!” The prince managed to push ‘Caro’ back at a distance away from him. “On my word as prince of the Demon Kingdom, and in the name of my sword, Cruor Lamina, I will take you down. Here and now!” At his vow, he pointed his said sword at his opponent and charged in once more.

******

After some time of crying, Caro had finally calmed down.

“Feeling better?” Illusion Alex asked.

“Yeah... I guess...” she answered. “I suppose, after taking the time to think about it, I was wrong; you both… You both never betrayed me.” She looked up at Illusion Ruby. “Ruby, you’ve been with me all my life. Every time someone said something rude or insulting about me, you’d have the courage to speak against them in my favor when you’re always meek to say anything for yourself, and you’ve always had my back whenever we fight together. You were one of the very few people who’d do anything for me, because we’re friends. That time we separated, that time you sent me away... you did it out of good intentions from your heart; you did it to save me. As you always had.”

To Illusion Alex, she said, “Alex... Like Ruby, you were the only person in my previous life who cared about me. Everyone else knew of my situation with my parents, but instead of helping me, they decided to make my life more miserable just to make themselves look and feel good. You were the first and only person who did what he could to save me from my fate back then, even convinced your family to take me in, helped me heal from the constant abuse, and gave me a name when I forgot my old one, if I ever had a name to begin with. You taught me that it was okay to feel and what it meant to be happy. You even went as far as to give me the greatest joy a girl could ever feel with the one they love. Yet, when I saw you for the first time in months, with another girl, you had a smile on your face. But thinking back on it now, that smile was not as genuine as it was around me. We’ve been together for so long, I should’ve known better than to jump to conclusions like I had; I should’ve had more faith in you. Instead, I was desperate, and saddened to see you with someone else after so long, even if it wasn’t what it looked like. And I... I got myself killed for my own blindness.” Caro looked down at the ground in shame. She looked to her hands, to herself, then back to the illusions of the two people who, in fact, cared so much about her. “You both did so much for me. And... what did I do in return for that...? I... I’m so sorry...”

The pair of fakes both smiled softly when they heard those words.

“... You’ve finally opened your heart,” Illusion Ruby said, before happily adding, “You passed the second test!”

Hearing this confused Caro. “Uh... Test?”

“That’s right,” Illusion Alex nodded. “The Cardiac Blade, the hilt you took a hold of before you came to this illusion, it comes with a set of three trials, all for one purpose; to find the perfect wielder for it, one whose heart is strong enough to overcome the dangers that is to come. Especially the Banshee Reaper. These trials are set up based on the memories of the person who touches it, all with the same categories. The first trial is finding strength in one’s deepest and greatest fear, their worst trauma, without any memories of one’s strong self. As you may have heard, many people failed that test. None has ever come as far as you have.”

Caro thought about what he had said. And she could see how many failed. At the beginning, she was herself, sure. But then, she got thrown into her past life, forgetting about her second life, only remembering the weak her, and the pain it came with. “Okay. But, what are the second and third trials?”

“The second is the one of trust. After what you’ve experienced in the first trial, you must know who you can and can’t trust. The Cardiac Blade looks into your memories and sees the true nature of people from those memories. Of those people, for this trial, it chooses only those that held some kind of meaning to your heart, in terms of love and hate. It was up to you to know who you can and cannot fully trust. You’re lucky; your whole life, both current and previous, you rarely let anyone in your heart. Ruby and Alex, the real ones that is, were the only ones who had a deep meaning to you. Had you decided to not trust us, who took upon their form, had you killed us both, you would’ve been stuck here, until someone in the real world killed you, or forcibly separated you from the hilt. Doing so, however, would cause you to sleep for all eternity.”

That last part confused Caro. “Kill me?”

“As you undergo the second and third trial, the Cardiac Blade takes control over your body and forces you to fight, to kill, against many others around you. Be it criminals, soldiers, innocents, anyone at all.”

The girl’s eyes widened at those words. “You mean... every second I spent here, someone out there is getting killed? By me?!”

“That’s right. Which brings us to your last trial,” Illusion Ruby said. “You have to overcome your fear. That is, the cause of it.”

“Isn’t that the point in the first trial?” Caro asked in confusion.

“No. The first trial was for you to find the strength to overcome it from your weak self. The last trial? You have to face the ones that caused the fear and trauma head on, in a way you do best.”

“Unfortunately, our role is to simply help you open your heart, and guide you to your last trial,” Illusion Alex added. He pointed at the dark path. “Just head on that way. They, monstrous illusions of your parents, will be waiting for you. You best hurry; the Demon King may have known that you’re still in the middle of these tests, but he can’t hold you off for long.”

Caro nodded and walked towards the dark path. A few steps in, though, she stopped and turned to the fakes.

“Just one thing,” she spoke.

“If you want a hint on how to beat them, that’s for you to find out,” Illusion Ruby spoke.

“It’s not that.” The pair raised a brow in confusion at the human. “I... I know you’re not the real Alex, and these past years since I was reborn, he must’ve gotten over me by now, living happily with someone else. But I... Just one last time before I go to my last trial-”

“You want me to hold you, and whisper your name, the name he gave you, in your ear, like he did, in his place,” Illusion Alex said.

“If it’s not too much to ask. I just… want to feel that warmth one last time.”

The illusion of her ex-husband smiled softly and wrapped his arms around her, caressing her hair lovingly, and whispering her name, her real name, in her ear. The experience made her feel like she was actually in the arms of her beloved, as she wrapped her arms around the illusion.

What felt like an eternity to her came to an end in seconds, as Caro separated herself from Illusion Alex. “Thank you,” she spoke, taking her leave.

As soon as she was out of sight, Illusion Ruby turned to Illusion Alex. “You won’t tell her?” she asked.

“She’ll find out on her own. Besides, our role isn’t to give information. All we can do now is hope she is the one. After all, we are running out of time.”

The fake half-human looked down when her companion pointed that out. “You’re right. Especially… now that it has chosen a vessel.”