Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Lyrah confidently walked through the grand halls of the Arcadios Royal Academy. Following behind her, quietly, was her maid and best friend, Natali.

They had been here for a short time, but had already fallen into a nice rhythm relating to their scheduled class work and free time. Free time was what they had right now, and Lyrah was excited for what she had planned on doing to spend it.

Her excited steps echoed across the granite floor as she began to pick up pace. Natali was able to keep up, but her steps began to sound frantic, something that was in opposition to her plain expression.

"Come! We have somewhere to be and something to do!" Lyrah basically giggled.

The sea of students moving about the halls parted ways to allow the excited, young oracle through. She and Natali were now the only Marked Ones at the academy as all the others had been shipped off to battle, so they stood out even more than they usually would have.

"My lady, what is it that has you so motivated today?"

"You'll see! Oh this is going to be fun!" Lyrah laughed out in sheer joy.

Her friend simply sighed and continued to follow along. Some of the other students seemed entranced and bewitched by Lyrah's beauty and melodic voice and also began to follow them. One swift and dangerous look from her attendant, however, scared them off.

Over the last few weeks, Natali had made a name for herself with her skill in Ice Magic and Dagger Arts. Her Mark of Recall truly did blend perfectly with her other abilities and her potential downright terrified some of the teaching staff and students that shared her classes.

Even though many of the male students desperately wanted to make some pass at the next Oracle, this dangerous girl always at her side prevented them from doing so.

Granted, none of them wanted anything of substance with her. She may be the next Oracle, but she was still a Marked One. There was no future in a relationship as she could not marry, could not inherit property, and could not join a noble house.

Essentially all these boys were looking for was a distraction and reprieve from the stresses of school life and had assumed their position of power would grant them the ability to do just that.

After a ten minute or so walk, they entered the female student dormitory. Lyrah and Natali lived in Grandpa Wally's personal quarters, so they did not frequent the dorms often, save for attending tea parties out of politeness and duty.

This time, though, Lyrah was on a mission and she was prepared for anything that might come. With a dangerously mischievous glint in her eye, she glanced backwards once at her best friend and smiled before she entered the dorms and knocked on a specific door.

When the door opened, she heard a slight gasp come from the white-haired girl behind her. Standing in front of them was a stunning girl, about their age, with crimson hair and striking green eyes.

Her beauty seemed otherworldly, but was marred by redness and puffiness around those green eyes. It was plain to see that the girl was crying and Lyrah knew why.

Another slight gasp escaped the red-head's lips as well as she glanced Lyrah up and down. The girl made no moves or attempts at conversation and simply allowed the red-headed beauty to completely take in the sights.

"Hello, Rena von Petra." Lyrah said finally after determining that the girl had seen all she wanted to see. "My name is Lyrah, I am the daughter of the current Oracle. This wonderful girl behind me is Natali, my best friend and personal attendant. May we come in?"

Rena nodded and stepped to the side with a gesture for the girls to enter. The room was rather untidy as it seemed she had made no effort to unpack, but the space was hers and hers alone, so it did not really matter how she kept it.

"How do you know my name?" Rena asked when she gently closed the door behind them. She had a handkerchief in her hand and was gently dabbing around her eyes.

"I thought I introduced myself as the daughter of the Oracle? As such I am the next in line to take the title… it comes with some advantages when it comes to knowing things." Lyrah smiled gently. It seemed by seeing her face, Rena was again reminded of the reason for her tears.

Natali's expression had long since returned to its plain emotionless state, but from her subtle body language, it seemed the girl was rather annoyed. Maybe not with Rena, but probably with Lyrah for bringing her to meet the red-head she viewed as a rival.

"What visions have you seen to know my name?" Rena asked with a blend of suspicion and hope.

"Well to be frank… my visions do not give me people's names. I actually learned of you from a Lord Carmichael." She admitted.

"Wally is here?!" Rena almost shrieked.

"Yes. And he's told me a bit about you… and about Lucius… now I have had only a few visions that included you, Lady Petra." Lyrah's face turned serious. "Lucius on the other hand… oh I have seen a lot about him."

Rena's eyes opened wide with shock. She nearly fell to her knees before Lylah pleading with her hands and eyes, "Please. I need to know. Is he okay? Will he be okay? He was taken from me and I have heard nothing since…please…"

"Taken from you? What is the boy to you?" Lyrah did her best to maintain a neutral tone. She already knew the answer. She had seen many things after all… including some that she would prefer to not have seen.

Rena's shoulders fell as she seemed to resign herself to the mercy of the woman before her. It was as if she was willing to accept the ramifications of giving the truth.

"He's the love of my life… my reason for being. We grew up together. Fought together. He was always by my side, and I his…" Rena finally answered.

A single glance was all it took for Lyrah to realize that Natali was on the verge of breaking. There was a real possibility that if the girl squeezed her fists any harder, she might pop a blood vessel.

Lyrah sighed to herself. Not everything in the future was set in stone and putting things in motion to achieve the future desired would take effort. However, for the best outcome, it was something she had already decided to do.

These two girls needed to bond and the only way to do that was through shared concern and uncertainty. It would be a painful road, but a necessary one.

"I have seen a few outcomes. Unfortunately, the boy's future is shrouded in uncertainty. Every glance yields a different result, so I cannot truly say what his future really holds." Lyrah finally answered. "I am sorry."

"No… I understand…" Rena whispered. "By the way… why do you look so much like him?"

"Hmm, you know I found that quite interesting as well when Master Wally showed me what he looked like. The world is certainly filled with fun coincidences, isn't it." Lyrah's voice returned to her cheery and peppy tone, which shocked both of the other girls in the room.

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