General Sterling

The King of Everything

    I've seen gold temples before but nothing like this. This goes beyond luxury. This makes a bold statement. It says look at me. This is mine and f**k whoever thinks otherwise. There's a barrier around it. One that indicates that this place did in fact once belong to Darkness. We're right outside the barrier and I can smell them. The males guarding the perimeter all the way around. The high towers cover the air. To get in, I'm going to have to ask. 

    "What do you want to do?" Raj asked. 

    "It looks like we're going to have to make ourselves known. Ready when you are," I stood up. She groaned grabbing my arm. 

    "Stay behind me. Your wings aren't damage-proof," she scolded. She expanded her wings behind her and wrapped me in them. I love them. I wish my wings looked like this. We walked out into the open and were met with the aggression I expected. "Alright, you can shoot things at me. How very modern of you. Now, why don't you take us to your leader?" 

    "Who the hell are you?" they called out in the old language. 

    "Hello," I climbed onto Raj's back using her wings as an anchor. I waved at them from the top of her head. "My name is Edwardian Pierce. I'm the Vampire Queen of Darkness. This is Raj'Ziel Chambers. Queen of all Incubi," 

    "Queens of Darkness?" one asked. 

    "Yes, that's us. We're just here to see what the f**k is happening," I waved. They whispered among themselves and then told us to hold on a minute. 

    "Okay, off," Raj shrugged. She helped me down and let me step forward.

    "Prove it. Walk through the threshold," they opened up for us to walk through. Raj grabbed my arm and kept me from walking ahead. Her left wing wrapped around me as we walked over to them. I jabbed one of the guards on the cheek and smiled at him. "We'll take you to the king," 

    "You better. I have a temper and I'd hate to lose it here. It's so pretty," 

    One of them looked me over before motioning to follow. He thinks I'm cute. A lot of people do. It's cool being small. I've never seen anything so beautiful before. It's like someone took their time to handpick every single piece of this place piece by piece and they have a knack for it. The ground is covered in the most luxurious marble in existence. I pushed my cape off so I can get a better look around. The people are dressed in the finest cloth I've ever seen. It's old but it's beautiful. 

    "Slow down, kid," Raj warned. She draped my cape over her arm. 

    "Raj, are you seeing this?" I laughed. The city looks hand-carved out of white stone. "I've never seen anything so beautiful," 

    "The King only likes beautiful things," one of the guards interjected. "The world is his and he'll always have what is his," 

    "Sounds like he's spoiled," I chuckled. 

    "Kettle meet pot," Raj chuckled waving my cape at me. I smacked her playfully. She grinned. 

    We were escorted to the tallest temple in existence. We both looked at one another and spread our wings. I am not walking up those stairs. The guards stayed on the ground as we made our way to the top. I lowered my body onto the floor and looked back to see no one had followed us. Raj cried out and moved away from a massive lion making his way to us. It's gorgeous and enormous. I knelt in front of it as it came over to me. I scratched under his chin making him let out a low growl before he made his way back inside. 

    "I love cats," I mused following behind him. 

    "Of course, you do," she scoffed. I laughed. "That's not a cat. That's a f*****g lion," 

    "It's just a big kitty," I smirked. 

    "Yeah, if you get a big ass cat like that. I'm not going to visit you," she rolled her eyes only making me laugh more. 

    "Where would I find the time to take care of something like that?" I shook my head. I stopped dead in my tracks when the scent hit me like a dagger I couldn't dodge. I stepped back as my fangs fought their way out. I can feel the harpy in me raging. 

    "E?" Raj came over to me. "Are you alright? Is it the baby?" 

    "No," I whispered. 

    "Never in my entire existence did I ever think I'd see the day," his loud booming voice sent chills across my skin. I can't breathe. 

    "I have to go," I shook my head. I turned around and was intercepted by two guards. I'm panicking. 

    "E," Raj called out of me as my wings wrapped around me protectively. "What the f**k are you doing to her?" she shouted. Her black angel blade materialized and she turned it to him. "Stop it. She's with child. If that child dies-" 

    "I'm not doing anything to her," he pushed the blade away as if it were nothing. He began to walk towards me. I pushed away not wanting him to come anywhere near me. "It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you or the child growing inside of you. I'd never," 

    "This can't be happening," I pushed myself back a little more. 

    "How long ago?" he asked. 

    "Weeks," I choked out. He crouched down in front of me and extended his hand out for me to take. 

    "The pain is excruciating isn't it?" he asked. "I lost my mate a very, very long time ago and I can tell you that It feels as if it were yesterday. My children also feel the loss," 

    "I'm not ready to let it go," I admitted. 

    "I understand," he stood up. He still held out his hand for me to take. I stood up on my own. 

    "Well, f**k Edwardian," Raj put her blade away. "Well, don't stand there, King d**k. Get her some water and somewhere to sit. Can't you see she's delicate?" 

    "Raj, always a pleasure to see you," he growled at her. He snapped his fingers and a few giant pillows were brought out. I was escorted to them by a woman who motioned me to sit. Another came over to me and handed me a glass of water. "Please, why don't you tell me what the hell you're doing here, demon spawn?" 

    "Devil spawn," Raj corrected. "I'm the devil's spawn," 

    "What are you doing here?" he growled. 

    The sound sent chills down my spine. The amount of power coming off of him is electric and not in the way Armad's son had displayed. His power is so strong it causes electric ripples around him. The authority in his voice is beyond anything I've ever encountered before. 

    "We're here because you've been shooting down my messengers," I spoke up. 

    I placed the glass of water down. His brilliant eyes turned to me. They look like lava pits. This man looks like he was carved out the very stones that make up his city by the goddess herself. He's a really big man for starters. Every part of him looks like it was created to look like the finest art anyone could ever lay their eyes on. Dark brown hair, sharp features. He really is half-god. 

    "My apologies," he sighed. "Not off to a good start," 

    "I would have done the same thing," I stood up. I rotated my shoulders popping them, pulling my wings back in, getting a hold of both beasts inside of me. "I'm sorry I lost it back there. I'm not in control at the moment," 

    "No need to apologize. I completely understand," he shrugged. 

    "Father, would you like us to pull back the aviation team?" a man equally as beautiful as him appeared by the exit. 

    "No, just stop firing," his eyes are still on me. I looked over at his son and his son looked at me. "Forgive me, this is my son. Maxim, my third born," 

    "Great," I shrugged making the guy chuckle. I'm sure he's older than I am. 

    "Lady Raj'Ziel. It's good to see you again," he looked her over. Her face turned red as she looked over at me. 

    "No, it's not," she shook her head. 

    "Really Raj?" I laughed. 

    "It was a really long time ago. Lip hadn't even been born yet," she defended herself. 

    "I didn't say anything," I mused. 

    "Okay, shhh," she looked at Maxim. "My mate is really chill but he's insane. Like that one," she pointed at me. "I know you can take care of yourself, Max but not from him. You will die begging for more when he's done with you," 

    "You're mated to an Incubus?" he laughed. 

    "The new Incubus King," I confirmed. 

    "What does the Incubus King have to do with you?" Maxim's father asked. 

    "He's my twin brother," I answered. "I'm half succubus, half vampire," 

    "I see your resemblance to the Queen," 

    "Milianne or Julianne?" I asked. 

    "Julie," he answered. "You're her granddaughter? Millie was still an infant when we were banished," 

    "She's still alive. She's running things while I get back on my feet," I shrugged. "I'm sorry. I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Vivianne Edwardian Pierce. Daughter of Millianne Duke and Edmundian Rae Pierce," 

    "Edmund is your father?" he mused. 

    "f**k," Maxim laughed. 

    "What did he do?" I asked. 

    "My sister," Maxim answered. Raj and I laughed. 

    "Maybe keep that to yourself as well. My mom would kill my dad's children if I let her. She's kind of an ass hole," I shrugged. 

    "Kind of an ass hole?" Raj laughed. "I'm kind of an ass hole and you guys know me. Millie is a f*****g savage. She had all of Darkness compelled to fall in line and when the people resisted, she killed most of them. Trust me when I say, you don't want her to find out. This is that tiny beast's princess and I am mated to her only son. They don't have to know everything," 

    "She sounds like fun," we all turned to see a woman dressed in all gold walk in with three other men. "Father, your collection of beautiful things has just become irrelevant. Look at her. Have you ever seen anything more precious?" she asked coming over to me. "You have the power of the angels inside of you," 

    "I'm sorry?" I asked. 

    "A champion. Lucifer's," she smiled. Her eyes are bright yellow. Like sunlight. 

    "Aleksi," her father called out to her. She bowed and stepped away from me. "Forgive my daughter, she doesn't know what boundaries are. 

    "Lady Vivianne, these are the rest of my children. My daughter Aleksi, the eldest. My second, Mikhail. My fourth, Grigoryi. My youngest, Yuri." 

    "You have five," I laughed not sure how I feel about that or any of this.  

    "Yes, I've been alive a long time," he sighed. 

    "It's nice to meet you all," I greeted them. "You can call me E or Edie. I go by Edwardian. Not a lot of people address me formally. I was a daughter of Pierce before Adam f****d us all. I haven't ascended the throne just yet," 

    "Adam," they all growled. 

    "She got him," Raj informed them. They all looked at me. "My father chose her to be his champion and she hand-delivered that mother fucker to him," 

    "You have our thanks," they all bowed. I glared at Raj. 

    "What? Credit is due, where credit is due," she shrugged.

    "I know a lot of things about you now and you still haven't introduced yourself," I turned to face him. He smiled. 

    "Forgive me, I am still a bit stunned by all of this. My name is Leonidas Perun. Son of the Lion of Darkness and the Goddess Zuluna. You can call me Leon," 

    "You live like a King, Leon. What are you the King of?" I smirked. 

    "Everything," he answered with confidence. "Adam didn't send me away just because he was a piece of s**t. He sent me away because my mother named her successor and it wasn't him," 

    "Wait," I laughed. "You're the King of Darkness? All of Darkness?"

    "That's correct," he nodded. 

    "We were told you were banished by your mother," Raj shook her head. 

    "Purgatory isn't a realm of the Goddess. Had my mother banished us she would have put us in her little magic box and she wouldn't have needed a plague to sacrifice all the lives he did," he walked back towards the golden throne in the middle of the spacious temple room. 

    "f**k my life," I sat down. Everyone turned to look at me. 

    "Your life?" Raj dropped down next to me. "We've all been fighting over Darkness only to find that there's an actually Demigod-vampire owns it. The Goddess really f****d us all, didn't she? They couldn't have just brought him back up and ended all of this, could they? Noooo," she sang as she marched outside. She raised her hands giving the sky the bird. "f**k you," 

    "You are displeased with this?" Leon asked. I looked over at him. 

    "I'm displeased with a lot of things," I admitted. "The fact that my mother was taken from me by a f*****g commoner of all people. I had to raise my siblings myself. I had to put everyone else's needs above my own. I didn't-" I paused looking down at my hands. "I didn't even go looking for my mate despite me knowing who he was almost my entire life. He would have been a distraction. I let him die without even knowing who the f**k he really was. 

    "I don't want to be here anymore. I don't want to deal with anyone's s**t anymore. I'm f*****g tired. I'm really sorry, Leonidas. You've been waiting for something for a really long time and I hate to be the one to have to disappoint you. 

    "There is no f*****g way in hell that I am going to let everything I've worked so hard to achieve, all the f*****g sacrifices I've had to make, to let you come in and take all of it from me," I shook my head. "Darkness is mine. I saved it. I bled for it. I don't care what the f**k your mom told you. It's mine. If you want a seat at the table, you ask for it and I will take it into consideration," 

    "E," Raj tried to reach for me. I let go of all the rage inside of me and turned to face him. The harpy inside of me is out and prepared to kill. 

    "Do you understand what I'm saying?" I growled. He looked me over amused. 

    "I do," he nodded. "I completely understand what you are saying, Vivianne," 

    "Good. I'm not here to negotiate anything with you. You are part of my Kingdom and you will follow the rules we have set. You will contribute just like the rest of Darkness. It's a f*****g order, not a polite suggestion," 

    "E," Raj called out my name. I looked back at her to see his kids looking at me with anger in their eyes. I laughed. 

    "You guys want to try this?" the saber Lucifer had granted me materialized in my hand like it had when I fought Adam. "I will f**k your entire little city up single-handedly," 

    Maxim attacked first. I stomped my foot on the ground and pulled the marble up wrapping it around him. I dropped down pulling the water from a nearby pool and surrounded myself with it as I pushed Raj behind me. I placed my hand in the water and began to heat it up as the three others rushed towards me. I pushed the boiling water towards them. They stumbled away as the hot water drenched them. I raised my sword, with a single sweep of my wings I'm standing in front of his daughter with my blade tucked under her chin and my hand on her robust chest ready to push it right through her. 

    "Okay," Raj shouted. "We all need to take a moment to calm down," 

    "I am calm," I smiled at him. He grinned, licking his lips. 

    "Stand down," he stood up. "Alright, you win, Vivianne," 

    "Father," Maxim groaned. 

    "It's alright, Max. Children. Be still my heart," they all backed away. Aleksi put her hands up in surrender and backed away from me. Whatever that meant was all it took for them to calm down. "You are a magnificent little thing, aren't you? I've never seen a vampiress wield all of the elements at once and I've been around for a very long time," 

    "New World. I'm not the only one," I lowered my sword. "I don't have a s**t load of kids, Leon. I do have siblings and all of Darkness behind me. If what you're expecting us is to kneel before you and just accept that you're the King. I can tell you now that I'm not going to do that," 

    "I'm not going to ask you," he shrugged. 

    "Father," Aleksi growled. 

    "Vivianne," he grinned. "I was just freed from a prison I've been in for centuries. I am not about to go to war when I have no idea what awaits me outside of these walls. It would be dumb of me to think that I would be able to waltz out of here and have everyone fall at my feet,"

    "We both know you were thinking it," I scoffed. His booming laugh is contagious. 

    "You're not wrong but you're here now. There is a very diplomatic solution for all of this and I intend to take it. You have the heart of the people. I only want one thing," 

    "He's gonna hit on you," Raj snickered. I rolled my eyes and looked over at her. 

    "Shut the f**k up, Raj," I sneered. She let out a crazed giggle and covered her mouth. "What do you want?" 

    "Time," he shrugged. 

    "For?" 

    "To prove that destiny has brought us together for a reason, Vivianne. You have something to take care of growing inside of you. Love him. Teach him the way of this new world. I would never deny anything that comes from you a single thing," he stepped towards me until I had to look up at him. He tucked his hand under my chin before pushing my hair off my shoulders. His thumb grazed my skin where Armad's mark had been. "I do want to say one thing, Vivianne. You are the Queen of Darkness but I'll never submit to you. You will be mine," he pressed his thumb to his fang and pierced it. My mouth watered with the scent of it. He smeared his blood on my lips. "I understand all too well what it's like to lose something important. Weeks is not sufficient time to push that pain back," 

    "No, it's not," I resisted tasting his blood. I wiped it away with the back of my hand. I'm not ready to let the taste of Armad's blood go yet. 

    "You're not alone," he whispered. "Not like I was. I don't want to erase the memory of him but I will be everything he couldn't," I growled at him when he placed his hand on my stomach. "I love children. I have five of my own and four that belonged to my female from a prior mating. It's a trait I get from my mother," 

    "You're coming off super creepy. I'm not letting you or anyone near my son. It's a possessive trait I get from my mother and it's usually followed up with blood," 

    "I'd expect nothing less from you," he pulled away. 

    He turned his back to me. He's not wearing any armor over his torso. In fact, he's not wearing anything to cover up his chest or his back. Over his ivory pristine skin, he has the baby blue markings of the goddess. The same ones Lilith has. His back is magnificent. Toned to perfection. I looked at Raj who shrugged knowing exactly what I was looking at. All he's wearing is a pair of white silk trunks. Nothing else. Not even shoes. The torches around us burst into flames providing more light. His element isn't fire. It's light. 

    "Max, Yuri. Why don't you have our things prepared. We're going to the Heart of Darkness to request a seat at the table in person," he smiled as he took a seat. "I wouldn't want to upset the Queen. She's delicate at the moment," 

    "She would have killed them," Raj pointed at his children. "Dumb ass," 

    "Would you have killed my children?" Leon asked me directly. 

    "If they would have gotten close enough," I placed my hand on my abdomen. 

    "You let me get close," 

    "My hand would have ripped through your chest before you could have harmed him. You smell good and you feel good but our connection will never be what my connection to his father was," I growled. 

    "It will never feel the same," he agreed. "A second chance is exactly that. We failed them and this new connection, no matter how much we fight for it. It will be a reminder of everything we lost. We have that to look forward to still," 

    "Kill anyone from any house of Darkness and I'll have you and all your children put in a box for a few years," 

    "You rule over all of Darkness? Not just the vampire domain?" 

    "All of Darkness. Vampires, Werewolves, Angels, Demons, Witches, and Incubi. They're all mine. They have their own homes and they are governed by their people. But at the end of the night. It's all mine," 

    "She's right you know," Raj giggled. "b***h saves the world once and they line up all the way around the world to suck her ass," 

    "Raj," I shook my head. They all laughed. 

    "Kiss her ass, whatever," she shrugged. "You get me, Leon. We used to be friends," 

    "We've never been friends. I loath more than anything else in the world," he admitted. 

    "Awe come on. Rosa had it coming," I jumped when he growled at her. 

    "You dare speak my female's name?" he roared. Raj laughed. 

    "f**k her. She was beneath you. f*****g trash," Raj rolled her eyes and looked around at his children. "And her little trash babies," 

    "Raj," I warned her. 

    "Alright, I'll stop," she smiled. "Only because you've finally found your home, King of Everything. Rosa was the reason you were in purgatory. Killing her was my greatest accomplishment. You hate me because I'm right. You can't kill me because I'm right. Consider yourself lucky you little f*****g trash children are alive," 

    "Get the f**k out of my city, Raj'Ziel," he growled. 

    "See ya later," she waved at him. "Registration starts at eight," 

    "Are you going to tell me what that was?" I asked. 

    "Yeah, when we get home. I'm cold," she shrugged. I can't believe this is happening. It's too soon. It's way too soon.