It had been close to a month since I started attending Kulinan Academy. Not much interesting had happened, as goes with school. We had little contact with the seniors, but some of us were scheduled to have a special meeting next week. I myself had come quite far in school, I had proven to be a powerful magic user only one other person in the class rivaled me in magical power. Of course I was talented in combat and still maintained my intellect. Although I had developed more socially. 

I had made some “friends”, as Amira described it. Of course there was Amira Alkitab herself who claimed to be “little Asura’s best friend”, this had some truth to it, as she was the closest to me out of any of my friends, but I still don't do niceties unless I have to. She herself was an average sized girl, light brown skin complexion slightly lighter than my own. Apart from her, there were 3 others. There was Sean (Seán) Amhran Éire, a prince from the kingdom of Riocht. He was a midsized lean guy. He had brown hair, light skin and dark brown eyes. He had a prominent accent when he spoke. He dressed rather casually with a white shirt, black pants and a green vest. His kingdom’s coat of arms was a shield with a snake on it and the number 32 in the center, and they were prominent on his vest. His summon was of course a large green snake named Nilbud. I had a good relationship with him, he was chill most of the time but could get quite irritable. What he lacked in strength he made up for in gusto but he was still kind of an idiot. I was also friends with Yin Lilang, High Princess of the Kingdom of Wanguo. She was just a bit shorter than Amira, who was up to my chin in terms of relative height. Yin dressed in a more modest and formal way.  She wore a long skirt and a suit style top. She had fair skin, brown eyes and black hair. She was very intelligent but quite shy. She was rather weak with magic, but loved to work with magical creatures. Her summon was a little creature, similar to a sugar glider named Mocha (抹茶.Pronounced Mo-cha as opposed to Mo-ka). It seemed to have the ability to move extremely quickly, that was the main thing stopping Nilbud from eating little Mocha. We both sat and helped the other 3 idiots study, my expertises being government, economics and the like. With Yin’s expertises being mathematics, demonic literature, and zoology. The last one who I accepted and considered a “friend” was the Undesten Imperial Princess Khaitan Buraldag. She was much like Amira, except she was able to look intimidating to hide the bubbly personality she had. Amira was clearly incapable of such. She had dark green hair, brown eyes and a lighter complexion. She was generally quite bubbly and cheerful. We just called her Kai because she insisted on it. She was the beauty of the class as a result not many of the guys in school weren't smitten with her which resulted in her not having many friends. I was among the only ones who didn't see her as a love interest and was friends with her. I didn't understand this concept of “love” but as far as Amira had tried to tease me about it, I was “in love” with someone in the class. I fervently denied it and maintained that position to everyone else. However there was something going on under her nose. It all started when one night, I had gone down the path from the imperial narakam residence leading up the hill to pray and meditate. On the hill there was a little house which acted as a temple and a shrine as well as a cottage. On top of the hill there was a large tree which was said to have been there for 500,000 years. Tamashi had wandered through the forest and came upon me. We went together up the hill. We spent the night staring at the stars, talking and just generally having a good time. We were having such a nice time together, we decided to meet up again. We met 3 more times. We got very close during this time. The last meeting we had was a couple days ago and at the end of that evening we both kissed, but we got greatly embarrassed and both pulled away. We agreed to make it appear like nothing was happening. Tamashi said after the blood ball we should meet up again, she had something to tell me but it had to wait. I agreed with that. I didn't know what my relationship with Tamashi was. I never really had much of a social life so understanding these things wasn't my strong suit. But apart from the social changes, and my time with Tamashi nothing much happened over the month. Today was a travel day. The Blood Ball was tomorrow and I had to go all the way back to the palace in the Narakam capital city, Talastana. The entire royal class had been invited including Amira,Sean, Kai and Yin. We decided it would be fun to travel together. There was a train that went straight to Talastana, however it was currently undergoing repairs like it had when I first came to Kulinan academy. However, instead everyones stuff was brought to the Narakam Imperial long haul carriage. It was an enormous carriage drafted by 12 of those flaming hell horses. Dasaan had brought the carriage up from Talastana. We met him at the front gate of the school with our stuff having been put on for us already. He bowed down before me and said “It's a pleasure to see you again your highness” I gave him a small salute, “Ah Dasaan! Great to see you! How is Grampa?” “He is well, he has been a bit stressed this month though. With you doing your first year at Kulinan and the Blood ball organization.” “I'm sure once I reach he’ll cheer up. Have we made the necessary arrangements for my guests?” “Yes your majesty. We have.” “Great, then we are ready to go.” I turned around to my friends “Welcome aboard the Narakam imperial carriage. Next stop, the Talastana Imperial palace.”

We all got onto the carriage, it was very large, similar to an RV. It had 6 little bedrooms, a recreational area with couches, a fridge etc. Each of them started calling dibs on bedrooms. I just took tenger and went straight for the largest of the rooms, the one in the back with the large Imperial coat of arms on it. Tenger hopped off my shoulder and perched in the corner. I took off my military jacket and my boots, I hopped on to the bed and began meditating. I closed my eyes, but I wasn't able to think for some reason. All that appeared in my head was the a set of glowing red eyes. Ever since grandpa did the power passing ceremony with me, my eyes had stayed brown. As I had come to find out, people with eye colors other than brown or grey somewhere on that spectrum  were extremely rare. So I wondered why I was different, why I had red eyes, until I first came to this world I always had dark brown eyes.  As far as I was aware, I was genetically fully demon. I was contemplating this, when suddenly the door burst open, and a voice I identified as Amira rushed into the room. “HEYO! Oi asura what are you doing?” I just ignored her “Oh I see how it is” I heard her walk off somewhere and heard the door close. I breathed out a sigh of relief. Out of nowhere I heard the words “MASADIR TACKLE!!” then I was suddenly taken down flat on the bed. I opened my eyes and saw Amira’s on top of me, grinning like an idiot. Her arms were wrapped around my torso.I gave her an annoyed look. “ What do you think you are doing Alkitab?” she replied in a cheeky tone “Getting your attention” “Get off of me before I cut out your throat.” “No you won't, you big softie. You love me too much.” She held onto me a little tighter and made sure I couldn't move my arms. I was annoyed but at this point getting her off would be damn near impossible “What did you want anyways?” “We were playing a game and wanted to call you to come play” “You know I wouldn't want to. So why did you-” Just that second, Sean came into the room saying. “Amira, how long does it take to-” once he entered and saw amira on top of me, he stopped in his tracks. “Ummm” he then closed the door and ran off. Amira panicked then rushed after him. I walked behind them. I came to the couches and saw Amira flustered panicking. With Yin, Sean and Kai smirking. They saw me enter the room and Kai asked a simple question. “Hey Asura, I never knew you guys were together. What was going on in there?” “We arent together. I was meditating then Amira came in and tackled me now I am here. What is the big deal?” “Alright that sounds reasonable. Sean you were probably just being stupid.” “Its not just Sean. Amira is also stupid.” I patted Amira on the head. “Now then leave me alone in my room. None of you tease her ok? Or I will end you.” To emphasize my point took out one of the daggers I had on me. 

I played with tenger for the rest of the evening. When it was time to sleep I changed, fed tenger and went to bed. I was out like a light. The same pair of red eyes as I had seen before. This time there was a voice that spoke. It was a deep voice sounding similar to my own. “Hello there Asura, how are you?” I replied “Who are you? Why are you in my head?” “Keep calm, child. I am your ancient ancestor. I am the Great Demon Emperor, progenitor of your dynasty and founder of the great demonic empire. You are my successor, or otherwise my reincarnation. I am technically you but from a previous life.” “If I am your reincarnation, how are you able to communicate with me?” “It's simple, my spirit reincarnated into you. The entity you are currently communicating with, is a left over is part of my spirit which contains my consciousness and former sentience. I currently occupy my space in the spirit realm. I will occasionally check in on you. Just because its fun. Looking at you now, you are my spitting image. Hair, wings, everything.” “Wow, that's fascinating. So you looked exactly like me?” “Yes I did, except I didn't have a cheap spell concealing my eye colour from the world.” He sighed. “Asura, there is a reason you are gifted. Your intellect is quite high for a ruler just as mine was. However, like me you have an extremely high magic capability and are destined for so much more. But that will come with drawbacks. You will find that out later.” “What is your name?” “My name? I am known by many names,but almost nobody knows me by my true name. There are only a couple artifacts that exist in the world which give detailed information about me. My true full name is ‘Nira Asura Chakravarthi Kalikarthikeyam Agniraja Mrythiyabhagwan Arakkanpererasar Khan’ however I was simply known as Khan during my lifetime. Information about me has been lost to history, despite how important I am. I lived five hundred thousand years ago and my memory is still there, it is not as strong as it used to be but still.” “So you are me?” “Essentially, yes I am you. You are the second chapter of our story. We are exactly the same. History repeats itself and you are a repetition of me. Now, this has been rather interesting but I'm afraid our time is up. But remember I am just here to talk with you, don't rely on me. This chapter is controlled by you.I will see you soon”. 

I woke up, and looked at the time on my phone. It read 5:50 am. Tenger was still asleep. I got up, took a quick shower military style and got dressed in my traditional Narakam clothes minus the cloak. I left my room and sat down on the couches. It was still dark out but I could see the sun rising over the horizon. We had landed back on the ground, so we were presumably close. I went into the coaching compartment and saw Dasaan still coaching. “Mornin Dasaan, are you still coaching after over 16 hours? Don't you want a break?” “It's quite alright your majesty. I have enough energy in me to coach for days.” “You know what? You go inside and get a bite to eat, I will coach.” “No no your majesty, it's alright there is no need. I couldn't possibly.” “That wasn't a request. That was an order Dasaan, go and get a bite to eat.” “If that is your command, your majesty.” He went inside and I took the reins. The Narakam countryside was beautiful. It made me think. I thought back and remembered earth. I thought about all of what I had left behind. Now that I contrasted it with the demon world, it was very interesting how there was a universal demon language, as well as separate languages that existed on the planet. Narakam was itself a language. As I had learnt, some of the most powerful incantations in existence are in ancient Narakam. I had in my short time in this world had 1 tutoring lesson in Narakam, but something strange had happened. After learning how to say hello and basic phrases, something in my head clicked and I somehow already knew how to speak Narakam fluently. It seemed as if I already knew and just needed to jog my brain to regain my memory. I hummed some of my favorite Narakam songs. Through the fog I saw the road leading to the capital city. The city itself was built on an ancient mountain plateau which is said to be one of the largest hotspots of magical energy on the planet. The road system of the Narakam Empire was quite good. The roads were smooth and well paved. The Demon world was quite strange. Apart from the existence of magic and the like, the tech they had was strange. They possessed electronics such as phones, TV’s, Fridges laptops etc and had locomotive trains but they lacked cars. In terms of weapons they had no hand held firearms. Combat was mostly with old weapons which were advanced with magic, like magic swords and magic archery. It was quite strange indeed. Although it was very interesting what was possible with magic. As I learnt more about the history of the Narakam empire and how tied the entire nation was to the House of Khan and the Imperial family, I soon began to identify more and more with this land. This was my land and my home and I was proud of it. The Narakam Nation itself was special among the empires and kingdoms. Not only was it exceptionally powerful with magic but the military was the most advanced. The Narakam people and nation were geared around the military and the imperial family. It was quite interesting how the narakam nation was structured and how it supported itself. The Narakam heartland of the mountains was very cold. The mountains stretched like a big vein across the heart of the empire from the Teikoku border to the sea of the lands.  It was a state of almost perpetual winter in these mountains as it seemed. It was still enjoyable. My clothes kept me warm so I was enjoying myself. Dasaan Came out from inside the carriage. “I have returned your majesty. I ate a nice meal.” “Good, we will reach the palace in about a half hour anyways. I’m heading inside, tell me when we have reached the palace.” “Certainly your majesty.” I went inside and made some breakfast for myself. I also set out breakfast for the rest of the gang. Then I went back to my room to meditate. After some time I heard a knock on my door. “Enter” I heard Amira’s voice. “Hey Asura” her voice sounded off. I opened my eyes. She appeared bothered by something. “Good Morning Amira. How did you sleep?” “Ah, after what happened yesterday I couldn't sleep a wink.” “Oh that's too bad. What was keeping you up?” “Yesterday’s incident on your bed that we had.” “Oh. Meh. Think nothing of it.” I heard a knock on the door. “Your majesty we will reach in 10 minutes , please tell me when you are ready to exit.” “Thank You Dassan.” I got up from my bed and put on my shoes. “Get yourself ready Amira. Grandpa said to expect a reception when we reach the palace.” “Asura, look you were right.” “I know I was” “Look I like you alright. I mean like like as in romantically interested in.” I stayed silent. I got ready to leave, and when I was about to leave my room, I picked Amira up , walked to her bed area and put her in her bed.  I left the room but just before I went through the door. I turned around and said “Get ready. We have a big day ahead of us. You just need to change into proper clothes, nothing super fancy for now.” I smirked before adding  “You look cute today.” Then I left. I got Tenger and I made sure I had my honors put on properly. Then I tied my sword to my side and left my compartment. The others came out of their rooms, dressed properly. I assumed Dasaan told them to get ready. They were wearing the same outfits they had been wearing at the royal class presentation ceremony. I told them to stand in order of their power and importance. The order was: Sean, Yin, Amira, Kai and then Me. I told Dassan to open the doors. When the doors opened I stepped out into the light. We were in the front ground of the palace. There was a line of military officials who were there to greet me. I saluted them and moved forward. Once everyone was out of the carriage, I turned around and said. “Welcome! To the Narakam Empire!” I gestured for them to follow me as I walked into the palace. As we walked I kept saluting the military officials. Once we actually entered the palace, the large golden front hall greeted us. Dassan came up from behind me and said “We will get everybody’s stuff and put it in their rooms. For now, the emperor is eating breakfast in the balcony café. Your majesty” “Thanks Dasaan.” I then teleported us to the entrance of the balcony. Grandpa had told me that along with the skills he passed onto me. He gave me knowledge of the entirety of both the capital palace and the crown prince’s palace. I knocked on the door and went out onto the balcony. I walked up behind grandpa. He didn't seem to have noticed me. I stomped my foot and saluted, then shouted. “Deputy Supreme Commander of the Narakam Armed Forces, Crown Prince Asura Khan reporting for duty your imperial highness” I saw him jolt up with surprise and turn around. “Oh my. Asura you surprised me. Don't do that. I'm an old man.” “Sorry grandpa.” “It's alright , child. Great to see you. It feels like so long since I last saw you!” he got up and gave me a hug. I whispered “Grandpa, I have guests. Remember? Please, no affection.” “Oh right, you kids try and maintain this cool image. Sorry child.” I walked him to greet the others. I spoke first “Everybody, His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Dushtan Khan!” “Ah, no need to be so formal Asura. Good morning all. Nice to meet you. Good to see Mr.Serious over here made some friends. Ah! You all have your summons. Wow how nice. ” He walked over to them and looked back at me. “Lovely to see you. Asura, you know they are heirs to the throne like you are.” “Yeah they told me grandpa” “Wow, you actually talk to them? I'm so proud hehe.” He looked back at them “Oh look who it is. Amira, Khaitan. I haven't seen you since you both were babies.” “You saw us as babies?” “Oh yeah, I am good friends with both of your parents. Your fathers were so happy when you both were born. They invited everyone too come see you. You were the “Jewels of the realm”.You know your great grandparent and I were friends. Hikma Alkitab, Torol Buraldag, Cogrha Éire, Kibishi Kunshu, Sheng Lilang and I were all inseparable. We also went to school together. I married Cogrha in the end.” he snapped out of it and directed his attention to Sean and Yin. “Anyways, who might you two be?” “I’m Sean Éire” Yin was very quiet when she spoke. “I- I am Yin Lilang” Grandpa focused his attention on Sean, he seemingly didn't hear Yin. “Ah, Sean. You are Éamon’s boy aren't you? Lovely to meet you.” “Grand to meet ya too.” “Ah, I see the Galigae-Éire genes have remained the same. How do you do in magic class?” “Sure you know yourself. I do alright. I am by no means the best but I do fair enough.” “Ah, I suppose the Khan genes have been diluted over 4 generations.” Apparently Sean was too dense to understand what that meant, because the look on his face was blank. I was indeed surprised to not only find out we were related but that Sean himself didn't know that. Grandpa shifted his attention to Yin. “What is your name, young one? I presume you are a Lilang, based on your resemblance to Sheng.” “I’m Yin Lilang” “Nice to meet you Yin. Welcome to the Narakam Empire.” He looked back to the whole group. “Well then, it was lovely seeing you all. Asura, you can show them to their rooms. Then you guys can do whatever you want and enjoy yourselves until the ball.” Grandpa called his eagle and it came flying from outside and landed on his arm. Sean saw the eagle and asked “Does your eagle turn into a dragon as well?” Grandpa was confused. “Excuse me, I must have misheard you through your accent. What was that?” “Oh I was just asking if your eagle turns into a dragon like Asura’s did.” Grandpa’s eye widened, before he regained his composure and said, “Oh. No it doesn't. But speaking of which, Asura we should have a cup of tea soon. So show them to their rooms and meet me here.” “OK grandpa” Grampa was visibly surprised after what Sean said. He walked back out to the balcony. I proceeded to guide the others to the rooms where they were going to stay. 

We walked down the long black hallways. Paintings lined the walls and gave a history of those who preceded me in these long halls. As we arrived at the suites I simply told each person which suite was theirs and left. I didn't really pay much attention to what was happening. I was too embroiled in my own thoughts. The last and largest of the rooms was Kai’s. I just opened the door and showed her in. Then I teleported away. I came out onto the balcony where grandpa was. He turned to me and smiled. “So, what was this about your eagle turning into a dragon?” “Oh yeah, on the first day of school tenger went into the summoning circle and turned into a huge dragon.” “Then he turned back into an eagle?” “He said he could shape shift, so I told him to turn back into an eagle. Sometimes he turns into other things just for fun. I didn't mention it to you because I thought that was normal.” “Would you mind calling tenger and showing me. I called him with my mind, then he came from above and landed on my arm. We communicated telepathically as usual and I commanded him to turn back into his true form. Tenger nodded his head, and flew away from the balcony, when he was a bit further away, he spun around and turned into the enormous black behemoth of a dragon that he was. I teleported grandpa and I to the large field on the palace grounds and called tenger down. When he landed, the ground shook like an earthquake. I looked to grandpa, he was shocked. I wasn't sure why. It seemed he was shocked at everything about me. It was strange. I heard him whisper to himself something strange. “The dragon marks the definite return. It has been 6,000 years since an heir was thought to have been found. The successor will be bonded to his counterpart on the 6th day of the 6th month of his 16th year.” he looked up at me “Asura, when is your birthday again?” “um, the fourth of october.” he looked down and began mumbling to himself again. “4/10. The 6th day of the 6th month after his 16th birthday. That would mean… the 10th of april. Today. Procedure must be followed.The Council of the nations must be gathered. The 4 pieces of the first must be gathered. The Codex Demonium must be brought out once again.” He looked up at me again. Apologies Asura, something has come up. Sorry I can't spend more time with you. He gave me a quick hug and then he warped away. I told tenger to revert back into an eagle. I teleported back to my room. I wanted to just clear my head. I decided to take a nap to look fresh for the ball in the evening.

My dreams were strange as usual. Now it was just a pair of fierce blue eyes. A woman’s voice came into my head. “Oh look at you. You are a carbon copy of Nai-Nai. I remember when we met. He looked exactly like you.” “Excuse me. Who are you? Who is Nai-Nai?” “Oh, straight to the point. You are exactly like Nai-Nai. Well then, Hana is my nickname for my husband, the first demonic king otherwise known as the first demon lord etc. You are his successor. You look so much like him when he was young.” “My ancestor. You are his wife. But why do you call him Nai-Nai? He shares the same name as me.” “First things first, I am a man. I call him Nai Nai because he is very lovely, as a sort of jab at him. He has a reputation as a fierce and fiery leader. He was prone to fits of extreme violence towards his enemies when they stepped over a certain line. He was called Tora Narakama, which means “the Tiger of Narakam”. Nai Nai is a short form of saying kitten in his language, so I called him Nai-Nai  to play on his nickname as the Tiger of Narakam. He greatly dislikes it when I call him that though. Thus I have 2 nicknames for my husband Hana and Nai Nai. Hana Means flower, and I usually call him hana but sometimes I call him nai nai. Anyways, I just wanted to look upon you, I shall see you again some other day. Good bye child.”

I suddenly woke up. I looked at the clock. It was 6:00 and the ball was in an hour. I leapt out of bed. Washed up and got ready. A Narakam high military uniform with the honors and rank epaulet was already ready for me. I put it on, made my hair, put on cologne and made sure to be fully ready for the ball. I tied my sword to my side and hid my daggers. I heard a knock on the door. I answered the door, it was Dasaan. “Ah your majesty, we should head to the ballroom.” “OK, let's go”. The Night of the Blood ball had begun.