The Crown's Obsession (WN)

Calhoun took a step towards her, staring into her brown eyes, "I want to show you something. You will understand it. I promise."

They then continued to walk until they reached the lake that felt familiar to Madeline as if she had been here before. But at the same time, she thought she had never come visit this town or anywhere near it.

Calhoun let go of her hand, he started to walk towards the edge of the lake. Bending down, he started to remove the snow away from the ground, and it made her wonder what he wanted to show her.

Madeline stepped closer to him, and she saw Calhoun continue to dig his hand into the snow until he finally pulled out mud. She found his behaviour to be rather strange, "What are you looking for?" she asked him.

Calhoun then finally took out black ashes from the ground before letting it blow away with the wind. "Do you know what this is, Madeline?"

"Dust?"

Hearing her response, he chuckled, "Yes, you are right. Dust of the woman whom I once loved and thought she was mine." Hearing this was enough to have Madeline's head ring like the church bell and she quickly took many steps away from him. He looked up at her with a smirk on his face.

"Darian," whispered Madeline and the demon didn't make an effort to stand up. He continued to hold the appearance of Calhoun, looking at her with vengeful eyes.

"I see that you know me, but we haven't met before. I am Darian, the first level demon, the superior one," said Darian. He continued to dig his hand in the mud to pull out more black ashes and throw it on the white snow.

"I know you. Enough that you impersonated an archangel to convince me to kill myself," Madeline's wings quickly spread out from her back. This time they were white in colour and not covered in blood as they had taken a complete form. When she readied her hand, an icicle appeared in her hand, and she looked at him apprehensively.

Darian looked excited by the sight of her wings, and when his eyes fell on her hand, he chuckled. "It looks like you received your mother's ability, or did she pass it to you before she died? You should not believe what others say about me, and you should hear it from me directly, Madeline. I know you are a smart woman, unlike your mother, who didn't heed to my orders."

Madeline gritted her teeth, "If you are planning to take over the world and go against Heaven, you will never succeed in it. It would only be right that you beg for forgiveness now rather than be destroyed."

Darian who had impersonated Calhoun, his face and body slowly started to transform into the face that she had seen in Astrate's memories when she had visited Hell last night.

The man's eyes turned pitch black.

"Did you think I am like those mere demons who have no abilities and ambition?" asked Darian. His finger moved in a circular motion on the surface of the muddy ground. "I am one of the very first demons, and I was born to rule this place. I have been living in shadows and watching you and the people near you. Did you think I wouldn't have an elaborate plan?"

Madeline softly gulped, her feet moving backwards while her eyes didn't leave the sight of the demon who was still sitting in the same spot.

"The Devil is busy with things going on in Hell because of the chaos I have unleashed by freeing the prisoners. If you are thinking that Calhoun will come to save you, he will not be finding you anytime soon. I have enough time to kill and take your soul with me," chuckled Darian, "Oh, and about that Salvette Mortem."

"What did you do to it?" Madeline's eyes narrowed at him.

"Don't worry about it. I made sure that it is following my servant who is impersonating as you. My servant will keep it busy and away from us," smiled Darian. He got up from the ground, facing Madeline. "I have been waiting for years. Your mother betrayed me quite badly, something I didn't foresee. I should have known that something like that would happen. For a demon, she had a weak heart."

"It is because of you that she is dead," whispered Madeline, "I don't think you know how to let go of things."

Darian shook his head, "You are right," and he took a step forward. Madeline's hold on the icicle tightened, and her heart started to race out of worry because she didn't know what this demon was capable of. "You know, I loved Marina, and somewhere she loved me too, but the angel screwed up everything."

"Did you resurrect Astrate?" Madeline demanded from Darian.

"It was just her appearance that was projecting with my anger," responded Darian. "That time, I didn't know that you had an alliance with the Devil. If he wasn't there, I would have cut out your heart."

"You would have cut out my sister's heart," Madeline knew it wasn't the time to correct him, but for a demon who claimed to be the oldest of demons and a knowledgeable one, the execution of his plan was terrible, and this was what gave Madeline hope that she would be fine.

"It doesn't matter anymore. Your mother died, knowing I would hunt her and the child growing inside her. Paschar was the person I was waiting for, but instead, he changed her heart and Marina fell in love with him. She dodged our questions, changing towns and villages so that it would be hard to track them down. Not to forget, Paschar's relationship with a demoness was not permitted in Heaven," explained Darian. Suddenly he disappeared from his place and he appeared in front of her.

Before Madeline had the opportunity to stick the icicle into the demon's heart, Darian had caught hold of her head, and he smashed it to the nearest tree.