The Ice Queen gently runs a hand that has crushed countless of lives along strands of silk, soft and smooth to the touch. Numbingly cold, her fingers leave a trail of white slush upon the contrast of black tresses as Jessica grooms the head resting on her lap with outmost care.

“Mother”, the young demon mumbles as Jessica continually her hair, locks of luster as dark as her father’s gathering within her grasp.

“Hmm?”

She turns her head on her mother’s lap, and as always, curious eyes filled with splendor and youth looks up at piercing eyes as clear as ice.

“Is it true that angels have fangs?”

Only two millenniums old, Jessica isn’t entirely surprised by characteristic inquisitiveness of a youth in the wake of its adult demon life.

“Some do”, Jessica answers while straightening up, equally granting her daughter freedom from priming as she unconsciously mimics her mother’s movements like a doppelganger.

Krystal stands as the spitting image of the beautiful queen, an aura of grace and poise exuding unknowingly even whilst inspecting the king’s violent weaponry decorated along the walls of their grand room.

But like her mother, she is royally clad with the rare blend of deep sapphire and striking black, as ice demons find a natural affinity to such vibrant colors especially in the dusky pits of hell.

“And what if they have black wings?”, Krystal asks, mindlessly running untainted fingers along sharp torturous instruments of death.

This time, Jessica is caught by surprise at the demon’s barred knowledge though gifted by the uncanny ability to stay stoic in most circumstances, her expression remains devoid of any emotions.

“Then they have fallen”

“Angels that have fallen from heaven? I’ve never heard of such a thing”, Krystal looks at her mother in hesitant disbelief.

“Angels aren’t as glorious as they claim to be. Those who are caught sinning are thus stripped of their honor and pride as angels”

“Are they like us then?”

“No…at least not yet. They are mortal and are therefore, beneath us. They are merely stuck in between heaven and hell; between good and evil as most humans are”

“And of course, we are the ‘evil’ ones”, the young demon lets out a light-hearted laugh at the irony.

Though wise beyond her years, she is too candid and curious for her own good, just as Jessica was. But even at the negative observation, the queen feels unexplainable pride for her daughter; the only thing that has kept her from leaving Yuri’s side.

“We are only deemed evil by birth but not necessarily by nature; after all, demons were once angels. Fallens are merely our transitioning states.

Depending on their sins and virtues, their actions will dictate whether they are redeemed worthy enough to return to paradise…or fall through the cracks of earth and into this abyss we call hell”, Jessica passes a jest, motioning to the grand room, made visible by the bright but gentle moonlight as Krystal cracks a smile.

In contrast to the fiery torturous realm that strikes fear in the hearts of mortals, the Underworld is an eternal twilight, a place of serenity in the eyes of the once fallen queen. Here, light didn’t blind her with its magnanimous brilliance nor did it scald her with its heated embrace; unlike heaven.

And of course, Krystal doesn’t miss a beat.

“Were you an angel too then?”

“In the past life”

The young demon briefly makes a teasing face of disgust before reverting back to her inquisitive demeanor.

“If you wanted to, could you return?”

“It would take several lifetimes, but it is doable”

“How?”, she further prodded though it is quickly blocked by immovable resistance.

“You are far too curious for your own good. May I ask how you even came to know about such things?”

Found guilty, Krystal sheepishly avoids her mother’s piercing eyes.

“I met one…A fallen”

The danger in Jessica’s tone is apparent enough that Krystal keeps mum.

“How many times have I warned you not to wander beyond the safety of this realm? Never approach an angel nor a fallen”

“Why? If they are beneath us then surely I can overpower--”

“Inferior only in the sense of discipline and intellect; but never in terms of power. A fallen awakened is about as bloodthirsty as the most savage devil with the strength of the mightiest cherub. They feed on impulse: whether humans, nymphs--or even angels and demons alike, as they gorge like mindless beasts. Though mentally weak, they are powerful when hungered—but that’s what makes them so dangerous. Unrestrained, they won’t stop until they are satiated so don’t let me catch you wandering out again---“

“But I didn’t wander out. I’ve never even gone pass the gates of Hell”

“And what would a fallen be doing here in the Underworld? You are aware that fallens cannot live in either realm unless they’ve been fully converted?”

“Well I saw one. And I’m not lying”, Krystal countered, equally determined.

“Where?”, the mother challenges.

“Here. In this very palace”

“Where?”, Jessica inquires with a maker’s unmatched authority as Krystal’s own voice lowers in submission.

Do or don’t, she’ll be damned either way so she decides to come clean.

“In the abandoned planes...”

Jessica’s face hardens even more at the mention of such a repugnant place, and even more at the thought of her own daughter freely frolicking in its abode.

“Krystal…you know it’s forbidden. If Yuri finds out…---”

Before Jessica could finish her scolding and begin her punishment, a familiar rumbling echoes in the distance closely followed by a quake so strong it shook the foundations and freed dust out of newly made cracks on clear skies as it foreshadowed all hell breaking loose.

Speak of the devil.

Rattling fixtures and spirits alike, the King suddenly bursts into the room in rage, though not without taking the insufferable inferno of hellfire with him, instantly suffocating the cool night air right out of the once comfortable room.

Black as night, like everything about him, the Black Pearl’s flames seems to possess a daunting ability of the life out of everything, even the fading light of the moon. Like a pair of miniature black holes, the same can be said about his pupils; deep, dark and dangerous, he shoots a stare so seething it sends the younger demon’s soul into a fearful frenzy.

“Who went there?”, his voice fatally deep as he announces an accusation rather than a question. After all, he already knows who the culprit is.

Rewarded with nothing but silence, Yuri proceeds.

“No one?“

More silence.

“Then let’s find the out through process of elimination, shall we?”, Yuri begins pacing, now calmative as his fire dimmed into nothing but glowing embers upon his broad shoulders.

“Only royal blood can enter the abandoned planes. My sister has been banished, and is therefore, out of the list. In addition, I found this”, he halts to show mother and daughter his gloved palm, sharp pieces of ice resting on his opened hand.

“I cannot conjure ice, so that eliminates me as well. Slimming it down even further, only one is known out of two ice wielders to be a young wandering spirit coupled with the troublesome blend of a rebellious disposition”

He closes his palms tightly, the King simultaneously melting the ice in his grip and evaporating them into nothing but hot steam like the ones coming out of his head and shoulders; an obvious indication that the king is indeed furious though it betrays his seemingly calm demeanor.

“You”, he points a glowing finger at Krystal.

“Come”, he barks the command.

Though senses overtaken by fear, the young demon unwillingly drags herself to the towering devil.

But before Krystal could move any closer to Yuri, the Queen blocks her with an outstretched arm.


“I did it”


“What?!”


Already on the brink of uncontrollable rage at the twos mind games, Yuri unleashes a wave of fiery but otherwise thin layer of hellfire in outrage.

Displeased by his lack of control, and perhaps her clothing suddenly set ablaze, Jessica impatiently brushes her shoulders, ridding herself of the tiny embers with a cold shrug.

“Is there a day in your savage life when you don’t blow up like an unrestrained buffoon?!”

Shielded behind her mother as an unwilling spectator, Krystal stays mum as Queen and King alike matched intense glares amidst one of their super-powered arguments; ones that always end up getting physical.

“I will deal with you later”, Jessica dismisses the youth with a calm voice though the dangerous undertone causes her fears to shift from father to mother.

“I’m not done with—“, the Yuri growls when he sees Krystal begin to dash out though he is cut short by Jessica.

“Go”, she mutters, Jessica’s calm tone overpowering even Yuri’s boisterous authority.

And so Krystal makes her exit, disappearing into the safety of the walls and leaving the two in the wake of their fight.

Stomping to Jessica, Yuri stands unbearably close as she feels the heat emanating from his body. Though she is sure her own aura is discomforting to the other, fire always did overpower ice and she soon finds herself slowly backing into a wall.

Though his breath is excruciatingly hot, she maintains her fixated glare as if unfazed though Yuri knows better.

“Don’t mock me in my own palace! You may be the Queen but never forget that your authority does not trump mine. It is my clan and my affinity that dominates yours”

As if to demonstrate it, he pins her head between his arms as she hears the walls next to her ears start to sizzle and peel under his scorching touch. Like wild fire, his heat transfers to the walls until finally spreading onto her back.

“If not by the obvious gap in power then submit out of appreciation, at the very least. Remember that these hands saved you and your daughter from death. If it were not for me, my clan would have slaughtered your family. I even fought my own sister to save you”

Murky depths of black met ones as bright and clear as the skies as the two continually ripped layer upon layer of invisible walls with their eyes, until only their bare souls existed.

“I don’t even know why I saved you”, he spitefully confesses in a whisper, though it tickled her ear like sweet nothings.

Staring down the glaring Queen, the King suddenly cracks an uncharacteristic smile.

“Perhaps it was that fire burning within you that I found so alluring…”

He immediately dives for her lips, tongue demanding rightful entry. Though she struggles fighting off his onslaught, to his surprise she submits shortly after, granting full entry as he feels her start to kiss back with just as much vindictive fervor. Exploring hands followed suit as touches burning with desire provided both with a pleasurable chill.

Claiming what is equally hers, she pulls him closer by the scarf, guided like a dog on a leash as he doesn’t mind succumbing to this kind of supremacy. Taking advantage of her sudden willingness to engage in such intimate acts, he eagerly burns a slit on the side of her restrictive dress, impatiently running a hand inside to feel the flawless skin that could only befit a true goddess. Rewarded by a hiss of pleasure--or perhaps pain at the sting of the burning clothe--he tries to contain his rising temperature as it threatened to explode and devour the poor ice Queen with its fiery hunger.
With a rough shove, she suddenly pulls away from the breathless demon as he recovered from their passionate lust making. But even with their foreheads touching, he could see that smirk of hers; a smile as sinister as the Devil’s.

It was the only warning he needed.

With the greater range of motion the slit provided, she suddenly swings her freed leg in a perfect demonstration of speed, grace and power as it aimed to destroy whatever it hit; preferably, the pride of a man located between his legs.

Though he swiftly blocked her leg with a forearm, the force of her kick had sent him halfway into the room. Immediately looking down at his forearm, he inspects the cracked armor, no doubt the only thing that kept his bone from shattering upon impact. With a bruised limb along with an equally bruised ego, droplets of sweat smear Yuri’s brow. Suddenly humbled with the reminder that a caged creature cannot be tamed so easily, he remembers the dangerous powers that the previous dark princess possesses, as it rivaled even his sister’s.

Being Yoona’s twin, he knows first-hand the dangers of their fury. Had Yoona not fallen in love with an angel and exiled to Earth, she might have even ruled the Underworld in his place.

“Shame. You aren’t as stupid as I thought”, Jessica says as she wiped with the back of her hand, snapping him out of his daze.

He straightens up, recovering from his surprise at her retaliation, only to find that he’s actually pleased with her actions.

Like a moth to flame, it’s definitely that feistiness which draws him to her.

“It would have been problematic had you landed that kick”, Yuri jests though worry clearly coats his features as he looks down at the broken armor then to his lower torso; the intended target.

“On the contrary, it would have been the solution to all my problems”

“And you wonder why my clan isn’t too convinced by your acting”

“Well, now that you’ve ruined the romantic mood, perhaps now is the right time to discuss the bureaucratic aspects of our relationship.”

“There is nothing else to discuss. My only duty as Queen is to feign undying love for you. However, convincing everyone that there exists a soul capable of loving a temperamental beast like you is already a challenging task.”

“Ah yes, and see, you failed with that simple task. The council isn’t so sure that you’re in love with me, enough that you would betray your own clan. They demand something more. They demand proof of our love…they demand an heir”

“There is already Krystal. Why do we—“

“Krystal is not my blood. She is a full ice demon. The demons demand an heir with an affinity for both elements as it would serve as the perfect breathing symbol of the union between our two kingdoms. Romantic, isn’t it?”

“If you were to refuse, per usual, to the council’s requests then it will only be a matter of time until they discover our treacherous scheme and sentence you to death. With Yoona exiled, they will be forced to keep me alive as their sole ruler. Ultimately, I cannot save you though I might be able to save your daughter. But your death will leave many ice demons angered, if not seeking to overthrow my clan. So, in a desperate move to unite this realm, I’ll be forced to move on to your daughter”

“What do you mean?”

“You two are the only surviving noble descendants of your race. It’s either you or her. Though she is already a fully mature adult, the thought of going down on a demon I once tried to father sickens me”

“But if it comes down to it, I won’t have any other choice”