Zeon Bell: Chapter One

Hell-that's what Zeon would describe his life as. It was a living hell. All day, all night, and it never stopped. There wasn't anything that could convince him otherwise. That's just how it had always been, from the time he was only a few weeks old. He was now three years of age, and life never get better.

"Get up, Zeon, this is no time to take a break," his father shouted through a magical sphere he used to watch Zeon's training while in the throne room. Zeon was presently in the royal training hall with the captain of the royal guard, Rajin. Rajin was also Zeon's mentor and advisor, and was in charge of Zeon's battle and magical training.

Zeon had been up since daybreak doing battle training. It was nearly noon. Zeon lay on the ground, battered and bloody. His body was shaking profusely from the constant pain he experienced as he tried to move. His body was screaming for the training to end; it didn't want to get back up, even when Zeon tried.

"My lord, maybe we should stop for today, the Prince can barely stand up anymore, and he still has multiple injuries unattended from the previous battle session," Rajin pleaded. He didn't want to anger the King, but he was concerned for Zeon's wellbeing. He was one of the only people that ever cared.

"Absolutely not! I will not stand for my son being so weak. We will continue until I say to stop," the King yelled furiously at Rajin for even making such a proposal, "Zeon, Get up!"

Zeon's blood was boiling at the sound of his father's voice. Could his own father really be that cruel? He was to the point of exhaustion and collapsing, and all his father cared about was his son's training. Zeon hated it; his father was the reason for most of the pain and sorrow in his life. His father never seemed to care about him at all, and Zeon couldn't stand it.

Weakly, Zeon stood up and prepared himself to continue with the training. He wasn't going to let his father bring him down, no matter how much he had to suffer. Rajin looked sadly at Zeon's weakened frame. He didn't want to continue for fear of causing Zeon anymore damage, but he couldn't disobey the King's orders. So the training commenced, as it always did. No breaks, no slack, and it was only part of Zeon's horrible life.

"That's enough; I'm tired of watching this. If you do not forge your heart, you will never be strong Zeon. Get yourself up and go to your classes," the King said before shutting off the sphere.

Zeon fell to his hands and knees, his body shaking uncontrollably as his wounds throbbed and openly bled. He had an overwhelming desire to throw up, but when he did so, all that came up was more blood. He wanted to cry; he just wanted to go crawl in a corner and cry. However, he would not let himself do so. He had learned a long time ago that crying didn't help anything; that it was a sign of weakness. Zeon refused to show any weakness to anyone. All he was able to do was to endure it all and curse his life and everyone in it.

"My Prince, are you alright?" Rajin asked as he knelt to Zeon's side, placing a hand on his shoulder.

No I'm not alright you idiot, what makes you think I would be okay? Zeon thought as he slowly rose to his feet. He would never say that though, his pride would not allow him to admit how much the pain was bothering him.

"I'm fine, now let go of me. I don't need anyone's help, so let go," Zeon spat as he brushed Rajin's hand off of his shoulder. Zeon knew Rajin cared about him but since most of his current pain was caused by his mentor, he wasn't interested in showing it.

"My Prince, you know the King is only doing this to benefit you. He really does care about you," Rajin said, trying to encourage Zeon.

"He surely has a funny way of showing it," Zeon replied angrily.

"Prince Zeon…" But Rajin wasn't able to continue as Zeon left, heading for his classes. He walked to the library, where the king's advisor, Kyoukan Nijuushin, was getting ready for the lessons for that day.

"Good, you are here, Zeon; now we may begin," Kyoukan said, not really even paying attention to Zeon coming in.

Zeon sat down at the table, trying to ignore the shots of pain running through his body that he experienced every time he moved. As he got himself into some form of comfort on the chair, he glanced around the table before focusing his attention on the board the advisor was teaching from. He never had to really focus on class as he knew most of what was going to be taught, but it was better then focusing on the others at the table.

Besides Zeon, there were three other students that were being taught. Right across from Zeon was Sha-pu Nijuushin, the advisor's son. Sha-pu was three years old just like Zeon and had blackish-orange hair as hard as steel, cold, steel colored eyes, and was of a dark complexion. He typically wore an orange tunic with steel shoulder spikes, gray pants, and steel, spiked boots. He also wore a spiked, steel circlet with an orange gem.

On the right side of Zeon was Tenshi. She was about four years old. She had golden blond hair; crystal blue eyes, and a sun-kissed tan complexion. Se usually wore a long, shimmering, white sleeveless dress and white slippers. Two feathery, snow-white wings could always be seen from her back.

On Zeon's left side was Chitor. He was five, making him the oldest in the class. Unlike the other children, Chitor was a biped tiger demon instead of a human-like demon like the others. He had brown fur with silver-gray stripes, a silver nose, a bushy tail, and bright yellow, slit eyes. He wore black shorts and a large black spiked collar.

"Now, class, we will begin with our lessons for today, and we will not finish until I say so. I don't care how long it takes, do you understand?" Kyoukan asked the students.

They nodded, not really paying too much attention to what the advisor had to say. Zeon hated advisor Kyoukan, almost as much as his father. The only reason hated Kyoukan less was that he was cruel to everyone, not just to Zeon. Kyoukan began teaching about the very first battle for demon king. It didn't take long for the students to find other things to entertain themselves.

"Hey, Zeon," Sha-pu whispered from across the table, trying to gain the prince's attention. Zeon tried to ignore him like he always did. Zeon was not in the mood to entertain Sha-pu's huge ego right now. It took most of Zeon's remaining energy to pay attention to the advisor's droning speech. But Sha-pu wasn't going to give up.

"Zeon, what happened to you, lose a fight with a flower?" Sha-pu stupidly remarked, trying not to laugh at his poorly created insult so as to not get untroubled by his father. Sha-pu always did this. He would always find a way to make fun of Zeon. He found it a personal duty, since he considered himself as Zeon's true rival. Zeon just rolled his eyes at his classmates' stupidity.

"At least I'm smart enough to come up with a valid insult, needle mouth," Zeon replied , "Go shove your head in the freezer, then maybe some of your fat-headedness will go away."

Sha-pu was steaming. A small, dry laugh came from the right of Zeon. Sha-pu snapped his head in that direction.

"What's so funny, Tenshi?"

She just gave an emotionless shrug and ignored him. She never talked much unless it was to insult someone or state someone's faults. She was always straightforward about it too, and had even insulted the King before. Zeon was the only one she held her tongue to, and that was simple because she found Zeon a worthy opponent in sparring.

"Maybe she was laughing at your face; it sure is funny enough to make me want to fall over," Chitor chimed in, seeing the look on his face, "or maybe because you act all high and mighty when you are at the bottom of the class. You are nothing but dirt compared to us"

To Chitor, power and strength was all that mattered in life. If you didn't possess those two qualities, you were nothing. You needed to be cunning, fearless, and even cruel when you fought, and never show weakness. Otherwise, you would never earn respect from him. Zeon was the only person Chitor truly respected, and considered Zeon to be his greatest opponent. However, he was far less obsessed with the idea of defeating Zeon than Sha-pu was.

"At least I have higher status here at the palace then you do. This will give me an advantage," Sha-pu boasted. He always had to throw in that he was the advisor's son.

"Yeah, poor little Sha-pu has to hide behind his dad for protection when he's too weak to fight his own battles," Tenshi remarked.

Here we go again, Zeon thought as he rolled his eyes. He knew what was coming and it only caused him a headache every time. He continued to listen to the advisor, hoping his voice would drown out the others. It never worked, though.

"At least I don't hide behind little gimmicks. You have to blind an opponent before you will even dare to go near one. So cowardly," Sha-pu stated, looking at Tenshi with disgust.

"He's got a point. He may be weak, but he doesn't use such a dirty trick as that," Chitor commented.  

Please make it stop. Zeon's head began to throb at the increase of noise around him. He wished that the advisor would tell them to shut up, but he knew that Kyoukan didn't care. Kyoukan didn't care whether the students would pay attention in class or not. It wasn't his education at stake after all. Zeon wished he would say something, however. His body was still in a lot of pain. In addition, he was hungry and exhausted. His classmates were not making things any better.

"At least I'm not an egomaniac!" Tenshi shouted.

"At least I'm not a prick!" Sha-pu yelled back.

"At least I'm stronger then both of you combined!" Chitor yelled above both of them.

Zeon couldn't take it anymore. The way they were acting. It was so childish and stupid. They should be ashamed. Zeon was going to stop this foolishness. Charging his fist up with electricity, he slammed it down onto the table. Not only did this make the table completely shatter, but it shocked everyone in the room as well, including the advisor. Everyone went silent.

"Zeon, what is the meaning of this? I understand that the class may have gotten a little noisy, but that…" Kyoukan couldn't continue his train of thought after he caught the horribly murderous glare Zeon had just given him. Despite the desire to not be reprimanded for Zeon's lack of manners and discipline by the King, Kyoukan was more afraid of Zeon then anyone else, even the King.

"A-anyways, let us continue with our lesson, shall we?" Kyoukan said trying to regain his composure.

The other students kept their heads down for fear of accidentally meeting Zeon's frightful gaze. Despite the insults they directed towards him, they understood when it would be in their best interests to stay quiet. Zeon just continued to listen to the lesson, hating it, hating his classmates, and hating everything else. It was just another part of his hell.

After hours upon hours of lessons and testing, to which Zeon score topped his class every time, they went to the royal training hall for sparring practice. Zeon's mentor was their instructor for this session. This was the only time of the day Zeon could find some mild enjoyment. Not because he enjoyed sparring practice, but because he was able to take out the frustrations he had been having during the earlier part of the day on the other students, especially Sha-pu, who was considered the class's punching bag because Sha-pu never won a fight.

"How were your lessons my Prince?" Rajin asked as Zeon entered the training hall. However, he could tell by the expression on Zeon's face that he wasn't going to get an answer out of him.

I guess it didn't go well, Rajin thought as he went over the rules of the sparring matches.

"I want to fight Zeon; I know I can kick his butt," Sha-pu boasted.

"I'm game,; I can always use a stress dummy," Zeon replied with a cruel smirk on his face, "Considering how much difference in power there is between us, that's all you are good for here."

Sha-pu was infuriated. Zeon enjoyed patronizing him; it was one of the only ways Zeon could enjoy himself. Plus, since he couldn't stand Sha-pu anyways, it only made sense to push him around like the weakling he was.

"That's enough," Rajin intervened, trying to avoid more conflicts, "I will be deciding who will fight whom."

After they were paired up, the sparring began. They would fight both with martial arts and magic. Each of them had a type of magic power they would use. Zeon's magical power was lightning. Tenshi had the power of light. Chitor had the power over earth. Sha-pu's magic involved the use of sharp shooting projectiles. Each one was learning how to utilize their magic to its fullest extent, and some had more control then others. Zeon always won in sparring, due to his advanced training and cleverness. Since he practiced and studied the most, and because of his family line and the power it possessed, it only made sense that he was the strongest and the best. Their sparring sessions usually lasted for a few hours, and by that time each child had sparred at least three times.

"Alright, that's enough. The rest of you are dismissed!" Rajin shouted to announce that the session was over.

"I'll beat you next time Bell!" Sha-pu shouted as he left with the others.

In your dreams, needle mouth, Zeon thought. He was tired, hungry, and still in pain from his injuries. However, he knew his day was not over yet.

"Zeon, it's time to…"

"I know that; I'm not an idiot like everyone else around here!" Zeon shouted as he headed to the courtyard for magic training.

His mentor was also his magic trainer, and magic training was not much different from the battle training that he had had earlier that day, except that Zeon was only allowed to use magic. By the end of it, Zeon was in an even worse shape then that morning. He wasn't allowed to stop until after sunset.

"Alright, Zeon, we are done for the day," Rajin announced.

Zeon was tired, injured, hungry, thirsty, and all he wanted to do was go to his room and sleep.

"Do you wish me to escort you to the dining hall for dinner?" Rajin asked.

"What do you think?" Zeon spat out as he headed towards his room "Just bring food up to my room."

Though he hadn't actually seen his father in person since he was an infant, he wasn't going to take the chance of his father being in the dining hall when he walked in. He didn't want to be anywhere near his father if he could help it. He just went up to his room and sat on the bed, waiting for his food to arrive.

"My Prince, I have your dinner."

The head nurse, Hakushi, walked into the room with a cart of food. Zeon didn't respond as he took the food and started to eat.

"Would you like for me to tend to your injuries?" she carefully asked.

"No; I don't need you to patch me up every time I get a cut or a bruise. Just go away!" Zeon snapped. She knew she had no choice but to obey him, but she wished that he would let her tend to his wounds. She was worried about his health.

As she left, Zeon looked down at his plate. He knew he was being too harsh to her, but at this point, he didn't really care. He hated everyone. His life was horrible and no one could help him. He finished his food and lay down on the bed. He knew he would have to get up again before sunrise. He knew he would have to live through hell again tomorrow. That's just how it always was. This was Zeon's hell.