A/N: All right people, this is my first story to post on the internet, so…yeah. I know there are a lot of authors out there who just abandon their stories (no offense to those of u who do) but I have no intention of doing so. There might be long periods of time where I don't post another chapter, but I swear to you, this story will be well written and finished properly. I have rewritten this chapter, due to the fact that it did not live up to my satisfaction.

Summary: A demon prince commanded by his power hungry father had entered the mortal realm, hoping to find something or someone to aid them in the takeover. Upon meeting Cyri, a girl willing to do almost anything to help someone in need, and just so happens to be the daughter of a retired general, he immediately sweeps her back to his realm. Coming to this new, and most definitely strange world, Cyri meets many new faces. What happens when she comes across a stoic, and seemingly emotionless demon lord? Can she melt the ice that has consumed him heart? Or will she be forced to always admire, and perhaps even love, from afar?

Prologue:

Prince Damon sat alone in his room, crushing a pillow roughly to his chest in an attempt not to cry. He was eight after all, much too old for something as childish as that! He was nearly a man now! But his father, King Apollyon of Arextelia could be cruel, which was exactly why Damon was in his current position.

Just then, there came a knock on his door. Without waiting for him to answer, his mother, Arianna entered the room, her long black tresses so much like his own pulled into a tight braid thrown over her shoulder.

"Damon?" she asked, placing a comforting hand on his trembling arm. "What has happened now?"

The little prince shook her off, turning away.

Arianna sighed deeply, her gaze cast downward. They had been through this many times before, and each time it became more and more difficult to get her son to talk. She feared that soon his father would drive the light that still shone in his black eyes completely. "What has he done, Damon?" she asked, this time in a more demanding tone, shaking his shoulder gently.

This time, he responded, turning to face her with tear filled eyes. "Father says I should spend less time with Delos and Galadriel. He says that as his heir, I should be focusing more on becoming a proper warrior, a proper demon." He looked down, a single tear running down his cheek, which he quickly wiped away. "He told me not to listen to you anymore, Mother. He told me you've filled my head with weak things like love and fear."

His mother growled, sounding similar to a dog, her green eyes now narrowed in anger. She turned to her son, taking his shoulders firmly, looking him straight in the eye. "It is he who has filled your head with lies, Damon," she said fiercely. "It is never a weakness to love, and only a fool fears nothing, for bravery comes from doing things, even though you are afraid." She paused, taking a breath, trying to calm the burning fury in her chest. "I want you to promise me you will never forget that, Damon. That is what will make you a proper demon. Promise me."

The prince hesitated for just the briefest of moments, but then nodded. "I promise," he said.

Arianna smiled down at him, but it was obviously forced and came off as more of a grimace. "I will have to have a serious talk with that mate of mine. Why don't you go find Delos? The fresh air will do you good."

"Damon, stop it! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, let me go!" His younger brother gasped between giggles.

"No, take it back first," the older boy said mercilessly, continuing to tickle him. They were in a field near the palace where the grass grew wild and went well over their waist.

Delos wriggled and squirmed on the ground, his face red from lack of air. "Ok, ok!" he exclaimed. "I was wrong, you'd make a better king! You're the strongest demon that ever walked the land of Arextelia!"

Satisfied, Damon sat back, grinning as the smaller boy glared up at him. "Now see, was that so hard?" he asked with a superior smirk. As soon as the words left his mouth, Delos leaped up, tackling him to the ground. The two brothers wrestled there for a while, rolling around, pulling at each other's hair and laughing all the while.

Nearby, someone cleared their throat rather loudly, and they immediately sat up, looking to find a servant standing a few feet away. He bowed quickly, an anxious expression on his face. "King Apollyon has commanded the presence of his eldest son, Prince Damon, and would prefer it if Prince Delos did not follow."

Delos's eyebrows arched, disappearing behind a curtain of light blue hair, his green eyes filled with confusion. He glanced Damon's way for an explanation, but the older boy merely shrugged in reply. What could their father possibly want with him that his brother could not hear?

After being announced, Damon entered the Throne Room, steeling himself for a particularly unpleasant conversation. Obviously Arianna had failed to get through to him, succeeding only in making the king angrier.

At first, he noticed nothing amiss. As usual, servants stood off to the side, awaiting a command. There sat his father proudly atop his golden throne, staring coldly down at him, light blue hair pulled up in a tight ponytail. That is, until he saw the bloody figure at Apollyon's feet.

"No," the prince whispered, horror struck. Running to the form, his suspicions were confirmed as he caught sight of his mother's raven locks, her beautiful face twisted into a mask of pain. She was dead. Father had killed her. "NO!" he screamed, falling to his knees beside her. Damon could feel a sob trying to work it's way from his throat, the tears pushing from behind his eyes, but the prince held them back. Apollyon was testing him, it was what he wanted.

"She was becoming rather tiresome," the king said, his voice detached. "Her constant nagging was most annoying." He paused, perhaps waiting for a reaction, but Damon didn't even look up. "Weren't you bored of her as well?" It was a warning.

Damon remained silent, for he knew his voice would betray him. But this did not satisfy King Apollyon.

Grabbing Damon up by the back of his neck, he forced him to stand up, looking him in the eye. The king's own were dark and cold, like black ice. "Weren't you?!" he roared, and when the little prince still refused to answer, his grip tightened menacingly.

"Yes, Father," he answered in a quiet whisper.

"Do you hold any remorse for her death?"

"No, Father. Love is a weakness," Damon forced the words out, and hated himself for them. He had broken his promise.

"Do you fear this will happen to you as well?" his father continued, voice still has cold and uncaring as before. "Do you fear anything?!"

"No, Father. I fear nothing."

Cyri sat alone in her room, the tears flowing freely from her tightly shut eyes. They were fighting. Again. She had long ago gotten used to the screaming, but for some reason she had hoped that today would somehow be different. Why? she asked silently to no one in particular. Why today? The sound of screaming stopped, and footsteps were heading towards her room. Cyri quickly sat up, hurriedly wiping at her wet eyes.

Seconds later, her mom burst through the door, blond hair in tangles, her mascara smeared from crying. Whenever she pictured her face, this was the image Cyri always saw. A woman with wild, desperately heartbroken hazel eyes. Eyes that were a mirror of her own, though more tragic.

"I'm sorry, Cyri," Amy began, smearing her mascara even more as she lifted a hand to wipe at her eyes, "but I'm leaving. I've found someone else! I just can't take this anymore!"

Strangely, she wasn't surprised to hear this. This kind of thing happened all the time to families like hers, people that no longer loved each other, if you could call it a family. Her mother seemed to be always crying, always screaming, and had sought comfort in someone else. Comfort she obviously no longer received from her husband.

Cyri just stared at her, the fact that her mom was leaving just beginning to sink in. The fact that she apparently didn't love her anymore either. And if she did, certainly not enough to tough it out with her dad. "B-but you can't just leave me!" Cyri protested, though she knew it was hopeless. The woman had already made up her mind.

Amy perced her lips. "I'm sorry Cyri, but you're old enough to understand. I tired so hard, really I did, but I'm tired of trying and getting nothing in return. Your father obviously isn't interested in keeping this marriage together, and frankly, neither am I."

With that said, she turned to go, and a few minute later, Cyri heard the slam of a car door, and the rumble of an engine. Just like that, her mom was gone.

"Happy thirteenth birthday, Cyri," she whispered, the heavy silence of her room the girls only answer.

A/N: All right, that was chapter one. Other chapters will eventually get much longer! Those of you who read the original chapter one, just pretend you didn't cause this one's a lot better, in my opinion anyway. Oh, and most of the chapters will be lighter than this, in other words, not so sad and stuff.