The New Guard: Below The Corporation 2

 Read part 1: The New Guard 1

A dark fantasy illustration of Madrina, the heartless princess, walking through a grand obsidian hall. Behind her, the powerful Patron sits on a throne of jagged black glass. Shifting shadows, demons, and spirits bow in fear as she passes, capturing the eerie and supernatural atmosphere of 'The New Guard' story.

The Mortal Daughter

She had everyone, minor demon or spirit, jumping out of the way as she walked toward the obsidian hall. She is furious, and every demon that saw her knew their life is at an end if they don't clear the way immediately. She is not known as the heartless daughter for nothing; her cruelty and ecstatic delight in the suffering of others is well known. The demons called her a sadist—not to her hearing, of course. She usually sent them to get her mortals that she used to play and watch as the demon tormented them.

Her name is Madrina, and she is just twenty-five years old. She walked on, hissing at an old spirit that had delayed in moving from the path. "How dare you delay me?" she fumes.

"So sorry, Princess," the old spirit said, bowing.

"Go to the chamber of soul, and ask them to take a bit of your essence as punishment for my delay."

"But, Princess, that would make me lose touch with reality and blend me with time; if I lose any more essence I will become nothing."

"You're too old for the spirit world anyway; I'm doing you an honor. Guard, take him away."

The Princess and the Demon

She walked on, not listening to the protest of the old man spirit. It annoyed her more. As she walked, she saw a demon just relaxing on a chair in one of the chambers, sipping a red concoction in a glass. She paused and approached the demon. "So you want to be lazy?" she asked the demon.

"No, Princess, I'm on my shift break."

"Hmm, is that blood?" she asked the demon.

"Yes, Princess," the demon replied.

"Who gave you the permission to touch a pint of the patron’s grace?"

"It is part of the benefits of working below the gate," the demon replied, now feeling uncomfortable. He knew how she liked to do things that even the demon king of tormenting is afraid of. He glanced at her entourage and he could see he had no support there, and they too are at the mercy of fate.

"Well, as from this moment, that benefit ends and you are to be dealt with for theft of the patron’s grace."

"But, Princess..."

She cut him off. "Your punishment is easy: you should be immersed into the pit of lava for three hours."

"Princess, that would kill me!" the demon protested.

"Then I guess it would be good riddance to a weak demon like you. Guards, start his punishment immediately."

The Throne Room

She moved on and finally came to the throne room; she could see her father, the patron, enjoying the quiet. The patron raised his head as he saw his daughter entering the chamber. He groaned inwardly and cursed the sky for sending her to him that moment.

"Daughter! What brings you here?" he asked.

The Secret of the Heart

"Father, you hide it from me; so all these years you have been keeping it secret from me."

The patron was silent for a moment. He thought she had found out about the prophecy; he had been warned not to tell anyone for the prophecy to come true. If she found out, then all hope would be lost. He plastered a fake grin on his face. "Madrina, my precious daughter, what are you talking about?" he asked her.

"Don't pretend as if you don't know. Father, tell me the truth."

"Are we demanding now? What are you even talking about?"

"Father, please, don't do this to me."

"Do what? I could feel your cruelty as you walked along the palace. You knew every spirit and demon is connected to me, and I know when you used your authority."

"You taught me well, Father. Stop playing around and tell me: you had my heart taken and that I'm a mortal living here?"

The Price of Life

The patron sighed. He was relieved it wasn't about the prophecy. He had been a fool once, a very long time ago; he had fallen for a mortal and Madrina had been the result of that affair. But it came with a price. In order for her not to die, her heart is to be kept in the mortal world while her body should live beyond the gate. That is why the gate is always manned by a mortal who has the power to reunite her with her heart. Her cruelty is as a result of having no heart, and it fuels the charm that keeps the mortal at the gate.

"Yes, you have no heart and you're a mortal," the patron said.

She sat down, trying to see if she had that feeling of humanity, but nothing.

"It is a complicated business, but be happy you're alive."

"But why?"

"I did things so you can live."

"I can feel nothing. Even the touch of a fire doesn't burn me. I want to feel. How can I get to be whole?" she asked him.

"That I don't know," he lied.

"And my mother?"

"She sacrificed her life force to preserve your heart."

The Bald Man

No one want to listen to him, everyone walkaway as he rant, the see him as a mad man who need to be locked up for causing public nuisance. He had nowhere to go and he has no relative or any family he could stay with, he walk away from the corporation building after he had been thrown out, he move aimlessly along the street admiring the beauty and wondering how perfect it was, a single tears fell down his cheeks and he doesn't wipe it away, he let it fall, his life has been ruined and he knows the demons and spirit would come for him.

The Secret of the Gate

The had stolen him when he was a kid and he had live his whole life below the corporation manning a gate because of a patrons daughter whose heart is on the mortal world. He stop dead in his track, an idea forming in his mind, he still had the power of the gate, and only he can get to the heart until a new guard is chosen, he could see the power draining away slowly as the new guard approach the gate, he figure he has very few hours or a day, and he need to use that time well.

Johnson Crescent Street

He stop a young woman and ask direction to the cemetery.

"Are you lost?" She had ask, everyone know the cemetery is at the end of Johnson Crescent Street.

"Thank you, I have lost my memory," he had said as his excuse.

The young woman was sympathic enough to give him direction and he went on his way to get his insurance to sustain his life from getting devoured by those heartless monsters. For the first time he had a smile as he know he would outsmart them this time so when the power is taken from him, he would have something to trade for his life.

Stay tune for the next part..