The large throne room was filled with different demons who are shouting at poor Artemis who is trying to get them to speak one at a time.

The room was made out of old stone and has red banners with our royal symbol in black. I mean a lot of people don’t consider us royal but that’s not the point.

There is a gorgeous stain glass window behind me that has a small ledge that I am currently sitting on. I am behind where Artemis is standing on the throne that is on a raised stone platform at the very end of the large hall.

The ledge I am on is about 6 feet above the throne. I have one leg bent and my foot resting on the cold stone and the other stretched out straight with my back leaning into the side of the window as I meditate.

The loud shouts are made louder because of the lay out of the large room, giving me a terrible headache whenever we have court. Thankfully Artemis has been pretending to be my for many centuries so I haven’t really had to deal with court for several hundred years. I just hang out in the corner or up on this ledge and meditate.

The thing is, everyone in hell thinks Artemis is the devil and I am his second, but I am really the devil and Artemis is my second. We switched places in the public eye so I didn’t have to deal with court or social interactions as much as he does.

Artemis stands up from the large iron throne, that had large spears sticking out of the back, trying again to get people to shut up and listen to him.  

The crowd goes silent very suddenly and I was about to open my eyes to see what is going on when I sense a rock coming at my face. It takes little effort to catch the rock, even with my eyes closed.

Everyone gasps at my sudden movement and my eyes open as I look down at the crowd. I have an angry glare and scowl on my face as I look at the man who had thrown the rock.The rock was small but using his demonic strength it could do serious damage.

He was rather large with shaggy blonde hair and tan skin. He was probably 6 feet tall and had the muscle build of a bodybuilder.

“Why aren’t you by high one’s side? Huh? You are his second in command, do your job properly, help him shut the crowd up, stand next to the throne so people don’t try to kill him, do anything, literally anything besides sitting there and napping during the most public and dangerous appearance he makes,” He says with hatred and venom clear in his voice.

Artemis starts to argue back at the low-level demon but doesn’t get any words out because I give him a look that stops him.

I hop down from the ledge and approach the frustrated demon. I stop when we are about 5 feet apart.

I give him the sweetest smile I can muster and say, “Just because you think I am asleep doesn’t mean I am. There is this mystical magical thing called meditation and if someone really had the intention of hurting Artemis I could very easily prevent it from happening. Why do you think I sit so high up?”

“I think you are just trying to cover up the fact that you are a terrible second in command and you got called out for it,” He says with a cocky smirk.

“Look here kid, you don’t know shit about who I am or what type of second I am so either stand down or face the consequences,” I say in a bored tone. I see Artemis trying really hard not to laugh.

“I am not going to do anything a second rate hack of a second in command tells me to do,” He says with a confidence that should not be there considering he is purposefully pissing off a higher ranking demon.

Artemis interjects probably noticing the cockiness in his tone as well. “Hey! Whether you agree with Nic’s methods or not she still holds superior rank to you so watch your tone.”

“Not for long… I Jason Miller of sector B-01 challenge you to a loco captivitatis fight.” He says while pointing a long crooked finger at me.

I think I have lost my touch because he should be shaking in his boots. But he genuinely thinks he has a chance. Poor guy. He doesn’t even realize just how screwed he is.

There are gasps and murmurs from the crowd.

This type of fight is very rare and the last time someone did challenge someone to a loco captivitatis fight was in the second century in sector A-02.  

I just laughed and said, “You’re on,” I punch my left hand with my right fist before cracking my knuckles.

Artemis gives the guy a worried look before shifting his attention back to me. “Be careful,” I hear him say over the excited cheers of the crowd.  My only response is a thumbs up and a crooked smile.

I walk to my right to where some palace guards are standing at attention. They know who I really am, so when I nicely ask: “Would you mind if I borrowed your sword?” They just nod and bow slightly while holding out their swords for me to grab. I give them a thankful smile as I walk back to my opponent.

Jason practically has steam coming out of his ears and his face had turned bright red as he yells, “You are just proving my point! You don’t even have a weapon on you!”

“I have my demonic weapon. You just aren’t enough of a challenge for me to use it,” I say in an obvious tone. I hear some giggles from the crowd which just pisses Jason of more as I swing the sword around trying to get a better feel for it.

“Please, you aren’t strong enough to hold back against me,” He says while I see Artemis gives him a pitying look out of the corner of my eye.

“Okay let’s get this over with. Jason are you ready?” Artemis says in a loud voice so everyone can hear. The room has gone silent.

He nods and draws his sword and gets into a fighting stance. “Nic are you ready?” I nod but stay in my relaxed position with my sword on my shoulder. “BEGIN!”