Laid woke in an unfamiliar bed, Lila sleeping beside him. He stared up at what appeared to be a hospital ceiling, though as his vision cleared, he realized it wasn't a hospital at all. The room was spacious and well-appointed, far nicer than anywhere he'd stayed before.
A man sat in a chair beside the bed, watching him with unsettling patience.
"You're awake," the man said, smiling warmly.
Laid stared at him with a cold, emotionless expression, though anger simmered beneath this icy indifference. His jaw tightened imperceptibly.
The man gestured toward Lila. "I'll wait for the young girl to wake up. Just so you know, your classes will start in about an hour."
*Are you telling me I was knocked out by that blaster and forced to attend this academy?* Laid thought bitterly, his hands clenching beneath the sheets.
"You're awake! Thank God you're awake!" Solis's voice suddenly burst into his mind, her worry palpable and overwhelming. "I wasn't able to contact you while you were unconscious. I'm so glad you're okay, Laid."
*You're a voice. What do you care about my well-being?* Laid thought back, his mental tone sharp.
"Well, you're one of my hosts, so of course I care about you. Besides, I care about people in general. Why wouldn't I care?" Solis replied, her voice softening.
Her voice carried a gentle, almost maternal quality that made Laid's defenses waver for just a moment.
*Whatever. I have other things to handle,* Laid said dismissively.
"Fine, fine," Solis said with a hint of hurt in her tone. "I'll just speak with Lila when she wakes up."
Laid soon felt her presence recede, and he relaxed slightly, the tension in his shoulders easing. He turned his attention back to the man watching him.
"You forcefully brought me here," Laid stated flatly.
The man chuckled, shaking his head with apparent amusement. "Of course I didn't forcefully bring you here. The soldiers did, after all. Our King, the great Demon Lord, made it mandatory for people to attend an academy every three years. After that, you're free to leave and do whatever you want. This academy is mainly used for cultivation and knowledge purposes."
"You knocked me out," Laid said, his voice dropping dangerously low.
The man raised his hands defensively. "I didn't knock you out. Don't you remember? One of the soldiers knocked you out. I look nothing like those two, I promise you. I'm Blind—I would never, ever hurt a student at this glorious demonic academy. Why would I do such a thing? It seems unethical, and honestly, those soldiers need to be punished. I'll be glad to punish them for what they did to you and your friend."
"You don't have to do that," Laid said, his expression unchanging.
"What do you mean?" The man raised an eyebrow, genuine confusion crossing his features. "I don't have to punish those two? But they knocked you both out with a blaster! Honestly, what they did was wrong. I would never do such a thing. I hope you understand that. Also, just so you know, you were able to leave. You could have said no and left, but that didn't happen, did it?"
"No," Laid admitted grudgingly.
The man's voice grew heated. "Of course it didn't. Those soldiers always take things to the next level when they shouldn't. Don't worry, Supreme Elizabeth will handle the matter. She'll be sure to chew those soldiers out for what they did to you and your friend. I deeply apologize for their actions. If only I were there, but I had more important matters to attend to. If I had been there, I would have definitely helped you both. It's an unfortunate matter."
Beside him, Lila stirred and woke up, blinking rapidly.
"What's going on?" she said, staring up at the ceiling. She blinked a few times more, then turned to stare at the man. "Who are you? What are you doing here? Where am I?"
"Calm down with the questions, my lady," the man said gently. "First, you're in your dorm room, where you'll be staying for the three years you'll attend this academy. Like I told your friend here, I'm deeply sorry for what happened. It wasn't my intention, and the soldiers knew better than to do what they did back in the demon city. They knocked you both out with blasters, which was wrong—very wrong."
Laid stared emotionlessly, not even blinking.
"Not only that," Laid added, his voice flat but carrying an undercurrent of menace, "but one of them decided to choke me because I wanted to leave."
"Oh dear! Heavens know why they would do such a thing!" the man exclaimed, recoiling in horror. "They're definitely going to get a talking-to from Lord Elizabeth. That's for certain." He spat on the ground in disgust. "Blasted soldiers! Terrible people, I say. Terrible people."
He composed himself and continued, "Anyway, your classes start in thirty minutes. I'll be leaving now so you can change into your uniforms and get ready. Have a nice day, and once more, I apologize."
He stood up from his chair, walked toward the door of the dormitory room, and left. The door closed behind him, and everything became silent.
"At least he apologized," Solis said from within both Laid and Lila's minds.
"I could see the sincerity in his eyes," Lila said softly, her expression thoughtful. "I know he was deeply sorry for what happened."
*I'll make sure to get those soldiers back for knocking me out and forcing me to come to this academy,* Laid thought darkly. *Those fools just ruined everything I had planned. I had a bunch of plans I needed to carry out, but thanks to this, now I'm stuck at this academy for three years. I'll have to find a way to escape somehow and get those—*
Laid was usually expressionless, but now simmering rage consumed him, burning just beneath the surface. His breathing grew slightly heavier, his hands trembling with barely contained fury. He was going to end those soldiers' lives, then escape this academy and proceed with his plans. He wasn't going to be here for three years—that was a fact.
He stood up from the bed and climbed down.
"All right, I guess I should get dressed," he said, walking toward what looked to be an outfit on a small nightstand.
The academy uniform was pitch black with a few red stripes on the pants and several red stripes and lines on the shirt as well. Laid sighed as he picked up his clothing and walked to the bathroom to change, giving Lila some privacy.
Lila got up and did the same, putting on her uniform as well. When they finished dressing, they both quickly got ready—brushing their teeth, grabbing books from the shelves that they thought they might need. Mainly Lila grabbed the books; Laid just stood there, not really caring about them in the first place.
Laid quickly walked toward the door, opened it, and stepped outside the dormitory room. He saw lines and lines of rooms stretching down the corridor. Soon Lila walked beside him, her green eyes scanning the halls with curiosity and a hint of apprehension.
"We really should have at least had a map," Lila said, her voice carrying a note of frustration.
"We'll just find our way around the place," Laid said dismissively. "I'm sure it isn't that big."
His words came back to bite him as he spent nearly twenty minutes trying to search for where the classrooms actually were, then another twenty to thirty minutes trying to find his particular class. Coincidentally, Lila and he were in the same class together.
They both looked at their schedules as they walked down the hall. They had the same class for every period, and they were both together.
*Odd,* Solis thought as Lila shared the information with her. "It's weird that you're both in the same classes together. Maybe it's coincidence," she said internally to both of them.
"I think not," Lila said aloud, her brow furrowing. "Maybe the man we saw first forced us both to be together. Isn't it odd that we were both in the same dorm room as well?"
"I guess that's a little strange, but there's nothing to be too worried about," Solis admitted.
She went silent inside both of their minds and stopped talking. They both continued walking until finally they saw their classroom. Laid opened the door, and the professor stood there. He quickly turned around, boring his red eyes into them with unmistakable irritation.
"Come on now, are you both late?" the professor snapped. "I can't believe you're late on the first day! You should—"
Before he could finish chewing them out, Laid interrupted him.
"Where do we sit?" Laid said coolly.
"You listen to me when I'm talking to you, sir!" the professor said, his face reddening.
*He seems unstable,* Solis said from within both of their minds.
"Man, if you could see," Lila said, smirking, "I bet you'd be laughing right now. His face is all red and everything."
"I said, where do we find our seats?" Laid repeated, continuing to walk forward without breaking stride.
The professor quickly tamped down his anger and pointed to a nearby seat at the back.
"You sit there, and your friend sits at the front with me," he said tersely.
Laid walked toward the back of the class, and Lila walked toward the front. They both sat down in their particular seats. A nearby blonde boy sparked with excitement and leaned toward Laid.
"What you did was pretty cool, don't you think?" the boy whispered. "I mean, no one's ever stood up to the professor like that."
"That's because you're all scaredy-cats and can't seem to stand up for yourselves," Laid said, his voice dripping with disdain. "Aren't you all demons? Don't demons have pride? What are you all doing, bowing down to a mere professor? You're demons—shouldn't you have more pride than that?"
His emotionless tone made the blonde boy shiver. The boy swallowed hard.
"I guess you're right, but he just has so much power—" he admitted quietly.
"It doesn't matter if the enemy's weaker than you or godlike," Laid interrupted. "You don't back down, and you definitely don't cower in fear like a baby."
The blonde boy gulped. Laid was right again. "You're right. We're demons. We should be more proud than this."
But one glance from the professor quickly shut the blonde boy up and made him turn back to his cowardly ways, shrinking in his seat.
"Hi there, my name is Maya," a young girl with blonde hair said, staring at Laid with a seductive expression on her face. She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a sultry whisper. "You look nice."
Laid ignored her and quickly stared into the professor's eyes, his gaze unwavering and cold.
"Well, until those two came in late," the professor said, clearing his throat, "we were about to learn about demonic energy. Now, as we continue with our lesson, does anyone know anything about demonic energy at all?"
Maya raised her hand. "Isn't demonic energy within a person, and can't you, like, direct it and stuff?" she said.
"A sloppy description, but yes, you are correct," the professor said.
He continued to talk about demonic energy until the bell rang. Surprisingly, Laid had actually paid attention to this particular part of the class. He knew that magical theory was important in his world, so he could imagine that demonic energy was as well.
He still had both Arthur—the seven-year-old boy—and Mary, his mother, burned into his mind. He remembered Jack grabbing him with his bony fingers and killing him. Even though it had been a while since he'd entered the demon realm, even though it had been some time since his sentence was stated, even though it had been a while since he'd turned Jack into a void monster, he still remembered everything with crystalline clarity.
He wasn't seeking revenge—he wasn't angry—but he was going to get back at what they did, trapping him inside that purple void. The memory quickly fled as students grabbed their bags and left, planning to go to their next class together.
Maya quickly stood up and grabbed the blonde boy's hand.
"Come on, Jake, let's go," she said cheerfully.
They both left, and Laid and a few other students were the only ones remaining in the classroom. All of them soon got their bags and left as well.
When Laid left the classroom, he stared daggers at Maya, letting her know not to mess with him. His first impression of her wasn't good—the first thing she'd done when she saw him was look at him seductively—and he needed to warn her not to get in the way of his plans. His eyes narrowed, and a chill seemed to emanate from him.
Lila walked toward Laid, smiling warmly.
"Hey, Laid," she said. "Want to walk to our next class? Since we clearly have the same classes."
Laid simply nodded. "Sure."
They started down the corridor together, but as they turned the corner, Laid froze mid-step. His eyes widened—the first genuine emotion anyone had seen cross his face all day.
Standing at the end of the hallway, surrounded by a group of senior students who parted like water before him, was a figure Laid recognized instantly. The man's dark hair, the cruel set of his mouth, the way he carried himself with absolute authority—it was impossible.
*It can't be,* Laid thought, his heart hammering in his chest.
The figure's eyes locked onto Laid's, and a slow, predatory smile spread across his face. Recognition flickered there too—dark, knowing, and filled with malicious intent.
"Laid?" Lila whispered beside him, concern creeping into her voice. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."
The figure began walking toward them, each step deliberate and unhurried. The other students in the hallway seemed to sense something dangerous in the air and quickly scattered, pressing themselves against the walls.
*This changes everything,* Solis said urgently in both their minds. *Laid, who is that? I can feel something... wrong about him. His energy signature is—*
But before she could finish, the figure stopped just ten feet away from them. When he spoke, his voice was smooth as silk and sharp as a blade.
"Well, well, well. Laid Ravenwood," he said, his smile widening impossibly. "I've been waiting for you to arrive at this academy. We have so much to discuss about what happened in that purple void, don't we?"
Laid's hands clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white. Every muscle in his body tensed, ready to fight or flee. But he couldn't move. He couldn't breathe.
Because the man standing before him shouldn't exist.
He was supposed to be dead.
---
**The End of Arc 2: The Demon Realm**
**The Beginning of Arc 3: Demonic Academy**