The Demon King's eyes snap open. Her body is lying on top of a cold, stone altar inside the mountain where she first came into the world.

Her origin story is nothing special. Originally summoned by a cult bent on world destruction, the Demon King massacred them first then began her millenia-long path of annihilation.

Since that time, the one thought constantly running through her mind is that of death. Or it was and had been up until just recently. After an unmemorable number of years destroying civilization, something had changed in the being possessing the child's body.

The Demon King's thoughts are still full of catastrophe and murder, only now there's something else. Something new. A question. Miasma seeps from the altar and wraps around her body.

She twitches as she remembers the blonde-haired woman with scarlett eyes from the last city. She was something else. Even though the blood sucker hadn't done anything other than shout, the Demon King knew power when she saw it and the vampire certainly had it.

In fact she had that much of it, that to the Demon King's eyes Bathilda was practically a beacon of unbridled mana. A plethora of colors so bright that she could see them from miles away. A force of nature all on her own and a volatile one ready to explode at that.

In her time spent decimating the number mankind all the way down to their last digits, she has never come across anyone like Vampire. She spoke about right and wrong, family, as though she wasn't speaking to the Demon King, but scolding a child instead.

Granted the Demon King's appearance doesn't do much to help her argument, but nonetheless power begets power. Couldn't the vampire sense her's?

For the first time since her awakening, the Demon King questions herself.

"Do I have to destroy everything?"

Seeping into her body, the miasma disappears and a vaguely-familiar voice answers explaining that all is as it must be and everything is right.

A bracelet formed of the same black gas which seeped into her body forms on her wrist and runes run down the skin on her arms. The Demon King screams. The pain is not only present where the runes are on her arm, but instead it's all over her body.

Falling from the altar as she rolls in agony, independent thoughts, the first of her life, rush to her mind.

'Why? Isn't what I've been doing wrong? That's what she said.'

Before she can think any further, a fresh wave of pain washes over her. The Demon King screams louder and louder until all the air escapes her lungs and she collapses to the floor.

Twitching vigorously until she eventually stops, the small child's eyes dull to that of unconsciousness. She then stands up and staggers out of an old, forgotten temple. Destruction re-coded throughout every fiber of her being, the Demon King disappears in a black cloud leaving only dust in her wake.

"How did it get to this?" Bathilda sighs.

On her left is Hiro. Still outraged over the loss of his wine that Bathilda gifted him, the man who looks like Bathilda's twin is red faced and furious.

On her right is the Demon King. The small child looks no different than before other than the fact that her head has been reattached to her body and apparently is back for round two. Which is odd seeing how both of her severed parts are still in Bathilda's back yard.

Now that the Demon King knows where I live, she's just popped over for a quick glass of red and a friendly chat.

If only.

For some reason, the Demon King seems to be quite obsessed with blonde Vampire. Not that she can get close to the progenitor without the weaker version intervening.

"Hey. What do you want? I don't really want to fight." Bathilda is trying to diffuse the situation peacefully before it gets out of hand again. Having just finished her renovations, she doesn't exactly want to go through it again and she would prefer to enjoy her time relaxing.

Unfortunately, the Demon King seems to possess teleportation magic as it was only twenty minutes ago that Hiro removed her head.

"I am the Demon King. All who look upon will perish and..."

"No! Stop it right now. You. Stop. Stop it." The Demon King closes her mouth and obediently listens to Bathilda.

"Why are you here?" Bathilda's question gives the Demon King pause. "Destruction," is what she wants to say, but she holds back the words and thinks.

"H-Help?" She finally answers.

Help?

Bathilda is caught off guard by the child's answer. Fortunately for the Demon King, she said the one word that would make the Vampire accept her no matter what. With Bathilda's mission in life to help anyone and everyone she can, of course she would even help the Demon King.

Why wouldn't she?

The problem that remains though is "How exactly can I help you?"

Puzzled Bathilda asks and the answer she receives isn't helpful whatsoever.

"D-Destruction and D-Death. A-All who gaze upon me..."

Even though the Demon King stopped herself from continuing, she hangs her head miserably. Her stuttered enactment of herself only served to confuse Bathilda even more.

"You want me to help you destroy the world? That's not what I'm about, you know? I'm like your friendly-neighborhood Vampire. Healing and help at the low price of acceptance and all that. I don't want to destroy the world. I want to live on it."

The Demon King frowns at Bathilda. Obviously that's not what she meant. Even though she repeats herself with the addition of an extra word.

"D-Destruction and D-Death! A-All who gaze upon me! Stop!"

"Oh! Stop the Death and destruction, right. Ok. Er, Hiro? Ideas." Her partner/clone/hitchhiker just glares at the child.

"We should chop her head off again to teach her some manners!"

Yeah, that's way too far to teach etiquette, she thinks while shaking her head and sighing once again.