SO I'M A DEMON PRINCE NOW WHAT

DEMON PRINCE NOW WHAT?

When I woke up again, I wasn’t in a tomb.

I was in a... cave? No. A crash site. Because I had clearly crash-landed on the floor face-first like a dropped pancake.

Ow.

Also—I was stuck. My horn was jammed into a skull.

“Okay, cool,” I muttered. “Decapitated skull pillow. Totally normal morning.”

I wiggled. I kicked. I might’ve headbutted a rock. Nothing. My horn was stuck like it owed the skull rent money.

“H-Hello?” I called out. “Anyone? Little help for your friendly neighborhood demon spawn?”

Silence.

Then a soft voice answered.

“You’re yelling at bones.”

I turned. It was her—Silver Hair, Ruby Eyes, Scary-Aura Lady.

She was eating what looked like glowing blue soup out of a skull-bowl. Yes. A bowl made of skull. Apparently, bones were a theme around here.

“Can you get me out?” I asked, flailing dramatically.

“Can you not be so loud?”

Rude.

She sighed, walked over, and yanked me free with one hand like I was a sock stuck in a drawer. My dignity made a sad little poof noise as it left the room.

“You slept for two days,” she said. “Snored like a dragon with allergies.”

“Wow,” I coughed. “Thanks for the medical update, Doctor Sass.”

Turns out we were in the ruins of a long-forgotten temple. Aka, "Weird Vibe Central."

Creepy statues. Echoes that laughed when you tripped. And a bat named Kevin who kept dive-bombing me like I owed him money.

“Why is Kevin staring at me like that?”

“He thinks you’re ugly.”

“Well Kevin smells like rotten garlic and bad decisions.”

Kevin screeched. I ran behind Scary-Aura Lady. She didn’t flinch.

“His insults are valid,” she said.

Honestly, betrayal stings worse when it’s silent and accurate.

-

While I was busy almost being eaten by a sentient plant (don’t ask), she decided to finally explain what was going on.

“You’re Rael,” she said. “Prince of the Third Hell. Son of King Var’kai. Sealed in a human child to hide you from the Divine Order.”

I blinked.

“So basically... I’m a demon baby who got shoved into a sad orphan meat suit and now I’m back?”

She nodded.

“Cool cool cool,” I said. “So where’s the royal palace? The crown? The enchanted bidet?”

“Burned down.”

“Oh. So... family reunion canceled?”

She looked at me like I was a rubber chicken that just started talking.

Then came the worst part.

Training.

“Your power’s unstable,” she said. “You need to learn control.”

By “training,” I thought she meant, like, sparring. Meditation. Floating rocks with my mind.

Nope.

She threw me into a pit.

An actual pit.

With a slime monster named Goopy who had a personal vendetta against my shoes.

“Control your flames!” she shouted.

“I’m TRYING!” I screamed as Goopy launched itself at my face like evil jelly.

I accidentally sneezed black fire and exploded half the wall.

“Better,” she said.

Goopy was still sizzling. I apologized to him and gave him one of Kevin’s snacks. Kevin did not approve.

By the third day, I had learned three things:

1. Fire sneezes are a real thing.

2. Hell royalty gets zero perks.

3. I am apparently terrifying when I’m upset.

Also, Kevin now sleeps on my head. Like a hat. I don’t know if we’re friends or if he’s claiming dominance.

Later that night, she finally told me her name:

“Lyra.”

Just “Lyra.” No title. No threats. Just a quiet name in the middle of chaos.

“Why are you helping me?” I asked.

She didn’t answer right away. Then she whispered:

“Because the world’s already burned once because of you. I’d rather not let it happen again.”

Great. No pressure.

So here I am.

Rael, demon prince.

Currently banned from touching magical objects, riding giant cats, or trying to make enchanted toast (long story).

I don’t know what comes next.

But one thing’s clear:

I’m not Zayn anymore.

And my life?

Is about to get way way weirder.

-

“KEVIN! STOP EATING MY HAIR!”

Screee! 🦇(Kevin )

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

-When Lyra said she was taking me to meet “allies,” I assumed she meant, like… crusty old demon generals or maybe some bat army raised by Kevin (long story)

What I did not expect… was a farmhouse.

A literal, wholesome, birds-chirping, flowers-smelling-like-springtime farmhouse.

“So… what is this?” I asked, blinking at the red barn and clothesline flapping in the breeze. “Is this hell’s version of a prank?” *that means hell's trash *

“These three are important,” Lyra said. “Don’t screw it up.”

“That sounds like a you problem, Not a me problem.”

Then the door opened.

And she walked out.

---

Let me be clear. I have never believed in love at first sight. That’s human nonsense.

But when she stepped into the sunlight—with a sword strapped to her back, a streak of blue in her jet-black hair, and an expression like she could murder a dragon and then write poetry about it?

Yeah. My heart did a little thump. Followed by a what-the-actual-hell-was-that.

She paused on the porch. Blinked.

Then frowned. Blushed.

And slammed the door back shut.

“Was that the welcome?” I asked, confused.

“That’s mira,” Lyra said. “Try not to die.”

---

Meet the Siblings:

. mira – the eldest

Wields a sword bigger than my trauma

Quiet, always watching

Muscles. So many muscles.

Definitely blushed when she saw me

. Kai – the middle child

Laid-back, smooth talker, hair that screams “too pretty to care”

Constantly snacking

Nonchalant

Thinks he’s a genius (jury’s still out)

3. Nia – the youngest

Tiny, chaotic, possibly part gremlin

Collects skulls “for fun”

Calls me “Fire Uncle” for reasons I do not understand *Like what the actual f*ck *

---

Once inside, Kai handed me a mango.

“Welcome, prince of doom . Fruit?” *huh .? Weird *

“...Thanks?”

“Don’t eat it,” Nia whispered. “It’s cursed.”

I stared at the mango. It stared back. I put it down.

mira hadn’t come back out yet.

“Is she okay?” I asked.

“She’s fine,” Kai said. “She’s just, y’know... dealing with feelings.”

“What feelings?”

“Crushy ones.”

I froze.

“On me?”

Kai smirked.

“Bro, you shirtless screamed your way into her field of vision and then summoned black fire while growling. Of course she caught feelings. She's a sucker for dramatic entrances.”

“I WAS DYING.”

“Even better.”

---

Five minutes later, mira re-entered.

Calm. Collected.

Absolutely not avoiding eye contact.

She sat across from me at the table. Arms crossed. Eyes doing that “I will end you if you mention my blush” thing.

“You have… horns,” she said.

“You have… a sword.”

“I could kill you with it.”

“I could die looking at you.”

(And yeah ,I'm good with the ladies and the lines )

Her face turned redder than a lava tomato. She stood up so fast she kicked the chair back and stormed out.

Kai dropped his mango.

“BRO.”

“I panicked!”

“YOU SMOOTH-BRAINED GARGOYLE—SHE LIKES YOU!”

---

Later that evening, I found her training outside. Sword slashes so clean they sliced the wind itself.

I stood there awkwardly, holding a burnt flower I tried (and failed) to conjure nicely.

“Hey.”

“...What.”

“So I know I’m technically a cursed prince of a broken realm, but I was wondering—uh—do you wanna maybe—”

She turned fast. Too fast. Her foot hit a rock.

She tripped.

Right into my chest.

We both froze.

Her hand accidentally brushed my horn.

“Sorry,” she said. “Didn’t mean to—uh—touch your…”

“It’s okay,” I replied. “They’re… sensitive.”

Silence.

Then she pulled back like she just touched lava.

“Goodnight!” she barked, and sprinted away at a speed that would embarrass wind spirits.

Kevin the bat landed on my shoulder.

Screee? (Translation: “Was that flirting?”)

“I have no clue, Kevin. But I think I’m in love.”

(Wait do demons experience love ......well I don't know, I'm in love )

---

That night, Lyra found me staring at the moon.

“You met her for five minutes,” she said dryly.

“I’d burn a city for her.”

“You burned half a ruin for a slime monster named Goopy.”

“Still counts.”

---

And somewhere, in the shadows behind the barn…

mira sat clutching a sketchbook.

Inside, the pages were full of drawings.

Drawings of me.

Smiling.

Laughing.

Fighting.

Burning.

“Stupid demon prince,” she muttered. “Why’s your smile stuck in my head?”

Her heart did a little thump.

---

That night, while the others slept and the fire cracked low,

I sat under stars that refused to glow.

Kevin was drooling on my head like a hat,

and I whispered to him:

“I think I fell for a girl with a sword… imagine that.”

Lyra passed me, sharp-eyed and slow,

“Your heart’s too loud,” she said. “She’ll hear it, you know.”

I shrugged and smiled, that dumb crush grin,

“Let her hear it. I’d still let her win.”

Somewhere, out back, she was watching the sky,

Pretending the moonlight hadn’t caught her sigh.

In her lap, a sketchbook—edges torn and bent—

Pages of me in charcoal, in moments she never meant.

A prince with horns.

A heart reborn.

A laugh she wanted to hate.

But couldn’t ignore.

“Stupid demon,” she whispered. “Why do I care?”

Then she pressed her palm to her chest and said:

“You’re not mine.

But I’ll always be there.”

And beside her—

A flower burned with flame and bloom.

Left where I stood beneath the moon.