A Whole New World. (Donovan)

[Killian Delaney]

It had been at least two weeks since the battle in the forest and Killian had been hard at work around the Demon domain seeing to the wounded and generally reorganizing life as it had once been. Her clan had won the battle, but not without heavy casualties. They had lost at least twenty demons and another twenty to thirty were seriously injured - even Killian had some wounds, but they were all cleared up now save for some bruising on her left cheekbone and jaw.

"Your Highness, I realize you're quite busy, but once again I must insist you consider the state of our dungeons. They're nearly full." Killian turned toward a middle-aged man to her right and then glanced down the hall beyond him thoughtfully. She didn't really want to go down there or face all those people, she knew the shouts and profanities that would be thrown at her; she knew it would be hard to keep her temper in check with so many terrible reminders of her past all in one place. After a moment though she nodded curtly and brushed by him to do as he asked.

She wasn't dressed splendidly, wore no sign of her rank as queen, all she had on was boots, a pair of jeans, and a navy blue turtleneck. Her hair was brushed and thrown into a simple ponytail. The only thing she had of any value was her demon mother's ring adorning her right hand. Her original clan had perished, her parents had been unable to save themselves or their people, but not this time. Memories of her clan, her family, the feelings they gave her - those things had saved her and her people, they had given her the drive to fight and win no matter what. Wearing her mother's ring was her way of saying 'it didn't happen again and it never will, not while I'm here - I will always protect my people'.

In the dungeons it was oddly quiet at first and Killian wondered if someone had gone against her orders and killed the prisoners, but then she heard some faint whispers and a few grunts and groans and relaxed, traveling further into the hallway. A few humans shot her dirty looks, some spat obscenities at her, but mostly they all just turned their backs and talked amongst themselves. Who was she to them? Just another demon. None of them knew she was queen and she certainly didn't look it thus she wasn't of much interest, probably just coming to take a look or something.

At the end of the corridor there was one cell behind a wooden door instead of iron bars, here she peered in through the window on the door and spotted the lone figure in the room. Stepping back she motioned for the guard seated nearby to unlock the room for her which he did promptly, holding the door open as she passed by him and into the cell.

"Enjoying your stay?" She asked immediately, eyes scanning the body of the man before her. Her voice held only a drop of humor to it, but her lips were curled up into a smirk. "Were you lonely? Everyone else got to room with friends, but not you. At least you got to have plenty of room though - most of them are trapped like sardines in a can out there."

The conditions weren't overly favorable in the other cells. Everyone was given plenty of food and drink, the toilets were cleaned and refreshed regularly, but still - the space was cramped and showers were not available so most of the prisoners still stank of blood and sweat. They were offered damp towels with which to clean themselves when they were first brought in, but most were too tired to use them or outright refused.

Killian had tried to be kind even to the prisoners. She had made sure serious injuries and the injuries of those who could not heal themselves were all tended to despite the fact that it left the enemy in good condition for a revolt. She was not a cruel person by nature and she was not unforgiving. Despite all the terrible things Donovan and the people he fought with might think, demons could be just as compassionate as any human - they had hearts too.

"You didn't have much in the way of wounds because of my method of subduing you, but I told our physician to check you anyway, did he?" Now her smirk was gone and she was down to business. Donovan was the only prisoner she truly cared about. By cared about of course that meant the only one worth keeping to her. She would be fine setting the rest free and only keeping him, but her clan was against it. They (rightfully) believed that setting the others free would endanger them immediately since they had healed and cared for them and they were healthy again. For now they had to remain in her territory under lock and key.

"I wonder, have you thought at all about anything I said to you during our fight?" She knew the answer was most likely 'no', but she thought she'd ask anyway. At the very least it brought her to the topic she really wanted to discuss with him - their old clan and the humans he now helped.

[Donovan Walker]

Donovan needed to regroup. He sat on the floor, leaning against the wall in frustration. Generally, he didn’t move from that corner unless he was using the bathroom. He ate in the corner, slept in that corner, and thought in that corner; he wasn’t much of a pacer. Donovan hadn’t anticipated any of this. His people had never lost. The plan was to come it, destroy the domain, kill anyone that got into his way, take prisoners, and move on. But now he was the prisoner. He kept trying to think of ways to escape and revolt, but he couldn’t do it alone. His efforts were useless in a cell by himself. But that didn’t stop him from thinking. He would find a way. He was sure of it.

Naturally, the time he’d spent alone in his cell seemed to pass so slowly. Parts of the battle and the first few days that he was there were a bit of a blur. Though he didn’t suffer many injuries he had been in severe pain. The pain in his head was blinding. It was just now beginning to go away. There was still a dull ache that sharpened every time he stood up or sat down.

He heard steps approaching and knew immediately that it wasn’t one of the regulars. Being alone allowed him to memorize the food and toilet cleaning schedule. He could recognize the footsteps of the people that did that work. These steps seemed oddly unfamiliar. He stared straight ahead as the person spoke but then looked up immediately as soon as he recognized the voice. Donovan stared deeply into her eyes as she spoke, making sure the queen knew that he was not afraid whether she had come to torture him or set him free.

There wasn’t anything that she could say that he was interested in hearing unless the word ‘surrender’ was involved. He could careless if she made sure that he was all right and well fed. He didn’t care if she was kind to him and his people. The fact remained that she was still a demon, a creature of evil and filth. He believed that the demon race should finally be extinct and he was more driven now than ever. He would not rest until she was dead. Until they were all dead.

Donovan grunted a little as he pushed himself up off the floor, never breaking his gaze. He made sure to stretch, do pushups, situps, and crunches everyday to keep himself conditioned for whenever he got out. He stepped toward her, leaving just a foot of space between them. He continued to ignore everything that she was saying. When she finished he crossed his sculpted arms across his chest.

“You really did yourself a disservice by keeping my alive,” he said deeply. She had ample opportunity to kill him, but she didn’t. Sometimes he wondered why but it didn’t really matter. He just had to think of a plan to successfully kill her and the rest of her clan. He could do it now, but now he was out for revenge and killing her without anyone there as a witness just wasn’t sweet enough. “Though, I must say it was pretty smart to keep me by myself. Did you really think that you would come in here and I would bow at your feet, telling you that you’ve been right all along? Ha! When are you going to realize that I’m never going to fall for your bullshit?” He grinned, and then spoke again. “I will kill you.”

[Killian Delaney]

Killian could tell he wasn't listening. Of course he wasn't, she expected as much from a fire demon and a follower of that clan. She expected him to be rude, to talk back, but damn - he was exceptionally rude assuming she wanted him to bow at her feet and all. She raised her hand to slap him, but restrained herself and lowered it back to her side. Her lips pulled into a tight frown as she clenched her jaw and took a deep breath before responding.

"If I wanted you to bow at my feet I'd simply make you. As I have yet to do so, I think you can safely assume that is not my goal, brat," She growled low and moved closer to him, leaving just an inch or two between them. Mentally she pouted at the fact that she was shorter than him by a good five or six inches in her flat boots. She should have worn heels. "And if you want to try and kill me, go ahead, but keep in mind that I can disable you without even touching you. If you're up for that challenge, then fine."

She reached out and gently stroked his jawline with the side of her hand as she smirked before pulling back and walking toward the door. "You know though, I feel so bad for you. You must feel so alone and I'm not talking about here in this cell, but in life in general. You live with people who hate you and want you dead, your parents and siblings are dead, your clan is dead - well, most of them. You can't even make new friends because the only people willing to befriend you, you hate and want dead."

"Such a lonely, pathetic existence... and that is all it is, an existence, not a life." She made a "tsk tsk" sound and shook her head. "Tell me, are you happy living just to kill people you don't know? Are you happy living just to do the bidding of your human masters?"

[Donovan Walker]

Being alone in the dungeons gave Donovan plenty of time to think. He’d be lying if he said that he didn’t think about everything she had said to him during the battle. But every time he thought about it the more unclear it became. Her lies weren’t adding up, yet she expected him to believe her. What evidence did she have to prove her story? None. But it wasn’t just her lies that weren’t making any sense. His life wasn’t really adding up either. He never really thought about it. The humans, his family, just told him that he had been abandoned and they had taken him in. But why would the other demons just leave him? And were they as cruel and evil as the humans described? Here he sat, after doing their bidding, know that once all the other demons were dead they would just kill him too. And Killian, who could have easily had all of her captures killed, kept them alive, even fed them. The only time she had been violent had been in self-defense.

Donovan clearly remembered drowning at her hands, without any water. Her power handicapped him and he had no desire to repeat that incident, so he kept his hands to himself. “What do you know of my clan? I already told you, you don’t know me.” Regardless, she was right in some ways. Donovan was not happy. He didn’t have feelings. Or he only had one: hate. Donovan couldn’t love, laugh, or cry. He couldn’t feel anything. It was as if he were a machine programmed to kill. He would never be in love. He would never bare children. For once he was gone, the demon race would cease to exist. That was the plan. He knew he wasn’t going to live in peace with them after all the work was done. He was making the ultimate sacrifice. Donovan was taught never to ask question but now that he was alone, he could never stop them from coming.

“I am not their slave. I am their protector. I kill to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Humans do not have the strength or the power to fight on their own. I will help them survive. And you are nothing but a filthy liar. You have no proof to support your lies.”

[Killian Delaney]

“What do you know of my clan? I already told you, you don’t know me.”

Killian smiled wryly, "Oh, I know more about your clan than you think and I may not know anything about your personality, but I do know who you are." Raising her hand she flashed her mother's ring at him which bore the insignia of their old clan. Whether he would remember the symbol or not was something Killian couldn't begin to guess. He might since he had been away from the clan for a while now, or he might not as he'd been with them so long, maybe his old memories were completely erased by now.

When Donovan got onto the subject of not being a slave to the humans and protecting them because they couldn't fight she snorted. "Can't fight? Can't protect themselves? Who are you trying to kid? You do remember that they've had two world wars, correct? Not to mention the numerous revolutions, civil wars, you name it. Also, on a human versus demon level they have to have some ability since they defeated demons before to force them into doing their bidding. They have some magic on their side as well, several wizards fight with them. They are not helpless, they have killed thousands of our kind, slaughtered them like they were animals and not thinking, feeling, speaking beings."

"You know, the only difference between humans and demons really is the fact that demons are stronger all over and always have magic. Anatomically though we are exactly the same. We have stomachs that need to be fed, brains that hold memories, emotions, feelings of pleasure and pain, that are wired exactly the same as a human's, and a heart that beats in our chests and keeps us alive. If you cut a human and a demon they will both bleed red. I swear the humans don't even fear us, they kill us out of spite, out of jealousy, because we have more strength and power than they will ever know." Killian chuckled bitterly, "Why bother to share this with you though, you don't care right? I'm always wrong, always lying. I'm a filthy liar because I'm a demon... but wait, then you're a filthy liar too right? You're a demon as well..."

"You also probably don't care to know that the night that they attacked your clan - our clan, they forced all of us children to sit and watch as they slaughtered what older demons they were able to capture without killing in the process. I watched them torture my older brother until he begged for his life, pleaded to let him be their slave, promised he would do whatever they asked. They ignored him and slit his throat. Now it baffles me that I could forget such a haunting scene, but I did for the longest time. I couldn't remember any of it. Was it repressed? Was it brainwashed out of me? A potion perhaps? I don't know, but now that I've remembered it gives me nightmares. I see it every time I close my eyes, but I would never wish to forget it again. It reminds me of who I really am and makes me fight harder to protect those I care about now. It also reminds me of the enemy I must stay ever watchful for - the human clan that destroys families and lives, your clan."

Try as she might, Killian could not help the tears that welled in her eyes. She could not stop them when they began to roll down her cheeks. Remembering her brother, her family, and that awful night broke her heart - a heart she once forgot she even had, a heart she had so long thought useless and hard as stone. "No one will ever take my friends, my clan who I consider my new family, away from me again. If you want to then you will indeed have to kill me, because that is the only way I'll ever be separated from them."

[Donovan Walker]

Killian’s words were flooding Donovan’s brain as quickly as that imaginary water had filled his lungs. He’d been trained to tune out banter but there was something about what she was saying that seeped it’s way through his resolve and rested on his brain. Nothing she was saying was making any sense, but he found himself considering it. He’d never taken the time to think about the things that she was suggesting. He only did and thought what he was told to. He wanted desperately to disbelieve everything that she said. It was all utterly incredulous. He wished there was a way to make her shut up but he was over fighting. It was getting him nowhere.

“As I have said before, I have accepted who I am, what I am. I know my purpose here. It is a shame you haven’t seen the same light. You are a great fighter.” The image encrusted on the ring tugged at his heartstrings and it shocked him. He hoped it didn’t show on his face. He felt as if he recognized it but didn’t at the same time. He scoffed and brushed it off as another one of her mind games. Who knew what she was capable of? She continued on about the slaughter of her clan as if to elicit some sort of emotional response from him. He didn’t feel sorry for her. He felt no pity. In fact, he felt they’d gotten what they deserved. It was a shame they hadn’t killed her too.

“Don’t think that by attacking me with your delusions that I will miraculously start believing you. I still think you’re full of shit. And it is my mission to kill you and I always succeed. Admittedly, you are my toughest and most stubborn opponent yet, but you are nothing that I can’t conquer.” Donovan knew that he couldn’t continue to argue with her. At this rate he was never going to get out of here. He had to come up with some sort of ploy to sway her to let him out. She was smart and not easily fooled. Whatever he came up with would have to be good.

[Killian Delaney]

Killian rolled her eyes and fought the urge to throw her hands up in the air. She had a bad feeling Donovan was beyond help, was beyond reason. She felt he might be too far gone and it would be no surprise. He'd been with the humans for what... sixty years or more now? Killian had lost count. Time mattered little when you were practically immortal.

"Seen the light... but that's the thing, Donovan, I did see the light. I saw it and I ran as far from the humans as I could, but it just wasn't far enough apparently." She chuckled humorlessly and walked into the cell further, dragging her fingertips along the cold, rough stone walls. "I belonged to the human hunters you serve when I was younger. I lived and fought beside you every day for several decades. Not literally, but figuratively of course. My human keepers didn't actually let me out much, they kept me secluded from the rest of the humans and demons outside their household. I'm not really sure why, perhaps that's common? I saw children outside playing, sparring, but it's possible that was only a small portion of the children in the camp. The point is, I lived like you do. I fought demons like you do. Then one day I had a question I was dying to know - why?"

"Why did I have to kill demons if I was one? Why were those demons being killed but I wasn't? My 'parents' couldn't answer me at first. They hesitated and finally they told me demons we evil, they wanted to kill everything, especially humans. They told me as I got older I would have the same urges and I would eventually be useless to the clan. I took that to mean I'd be killed." She shrugged and turned her back to the wall, leaning up against it and gazing across at Donovan, "At first it didn't bother me. I agreed with them that demons were evil, but then as I got older all of that fell apart."

"I had no desire to kill humans or demons or anything unless I felt threatened. One of the other human hunters was hitting my human sibling for messing up with something and I had the urge to lash out at him, to protect my sister, but the other humans who never threatened me or my so-called family? I didn't care. I didn't want to hurt them, I didn't really think of them at all." She waved her hand nonchalantly, as if to symbolize time flying by, "Later we were attacking a clan of demons and I fought well, tore through the masses taking down demon after demon, but not feeling right about it. My feeling was solidified when I ran into a woman trying to hide with her infant child. She didn't attack me, she simply begged for me to not hurt her baby. The look in her eyes broke something in me, my heart I guess."

"Have you ever looked into the eyes of your victims? Really looked... Have you ever asked yourself why you're ordered to kill beings who never take an offensive stance against you? I asked myself when I looked at that woman and her child and I didn't like the answer I got. I turned away and couldn't kill her. With my back turned I heard her scream. I whirled around to see her running from another hunter. She made no move to even defend herself, she just ran, but he ran after her and cut her down and then he took the child who was injured and killed it too. When I stared at him too long he barked at me that the child was too young to be of use, more of a nuisance than a benefit to the hunter coven and injured it would be worse." Killian gave Donovan a cruel smile, "A baby. An infant. Tell me what that child ever did to anyone, Donovan. How was that baby so evil? Don't give me that bullshit about how it would grow up and become evil. Isn't evil all a matter of how one is raised, the environment? You are a demon, but you wouldn't really consider yourself evil, would you? You've never killed a human before and that's how you measure evil, right?"

"If you're not evil, but you're a demon, then wouldn't you agree it's possible for demons to not be bloodthirsty killers? Or maybe that's over your head. Maybe you're too brainwashed and though you never killed a human and have never wanted to you still believe you're evil. It's confounding. You're evil for wanting to or actually killing humans, but because you're a demon you're evil anyway. Which is it exactly? Why is it the humans aren't satisfied that you don't want to kill them? Why do they still consider you evil and a threat when you don't want to hurt them, when you don't want to do the one thing they use to judge evil?" Killian shook her head and grinned almost like a madwoman. "If you know, please explain. I need someone to explain the logic because I just don't see it... but maybe the humans lack logic and that's the point?"