Christmas came and went as the snow fell from an overcast sky. On 23 January in the year of 1951, I was summoned by the Sovereign back to the Palazzo Reale di Torino for my first task. Carlo had been distraught as he thought it was too early for me to be summoned for a task. Alessandro was overjoyed as he told me that receiving a summon from the Sovereign was a badge of honor. The Sovereign showed his support for me which would resonate with the other clans to give I Soli more status.

I was nervous as my fear of bringing calamity over Alessandro and my clan was in my mind while I was driven to the palace. A blond haired, beautiful woman with light blue eyes greeted me with a polite but rigid demeanor. She introduced herself as a Monarch named Leonara Birch from England. She had the honor of serving the Sovereign of Torino. She brought me to a luxurious office where she left me at the mercy of Umberto Biancamano and a man I could only assume was the Sovereign.

I gawked at the Sovereign who was rigorously handsome, but young. I had expected an older man or at least someone who looked older. He must be in his twenties. It was a great contrast to Umberto who looked like he was in his mid-thirties.

Umberto chuckled as he noticed my startled gaze. “It seems, Signora Di Santis, is rather astonished by your age, my dear kin.”

The man looked up from his papers and the emerald eyes made my face turn crimson as I averted my gaze.

“Well, I did officially die when I was twenty-nine but I have feeling our you lady has a far worse fate than mine as she cannot have reached twenty yet. You will curse your fate when in a few hundred years you will still have the appearance you have now,” the Sovereign mused and rose from his desk to walk closer to me. He gave me a charming smile and bowed to kiss my hand.

“My name is Amedeo VII of Savoy, but people call me the Red Count. I prefer Amedeo though, and you are welcome to use my name. Your father was a close friend and a loyal servant. I grieve for him an give you my consoles for his departing.”

“Thank you, Signor Amedeo,” I said politely and tried not to curtsy as Alessandro had warned me that Ascendants do not bow to the Sovereign. He is chosen by them as they are not needed to bow to the Sovereign.

“Though I must ask about some… Concerns I have of his death. It was far from natural and then here you are, the only survivor, as an I Soli. So, I must ask, who turned you?”

Both Amedeo and Umberto watched me with a hawk’s eyes as a squirmed under their gazes. I knew I could get my revenge by telling them but… Alessandro and Carlo’s faces haunted me as my decision was far from settled.

“I cannot tell you, Signor!” I said slowly as I considered my words carefully.

“Can’t or won’t?” Umberto asked and watched my reaction. I gave him a firm smile.

“I won’t. This is a complicated matter and it’s personal for me. This is my burden to bear and a task only settled by me. I will not allow outsiders to settle this for me,” I unyieldingly said and Amedeo folded his arms across his chest while leaning against the desk.

“Then there was a matter of foul play,” He said and Umberto nodded. They both exchanged a gaze before returning their attention to me.

“We will not interfere as it is your wish but I must warn you. If something comes to the surface, like evidence, no matter if it is false or not, we will have to act. It’s better that you bend this case to your advantage before it’s too late and someone else has done so to theirs,” Umberto said slowly.

Amedeo stood straight with a soothing smile. “Well, either way. We did not summon you to interrogate you but to give you a task. Have you read about the disappearances in Torino?”

“Yes, La Stampa wrote an article about the disappearances, apparently people have gone missing in the old underground cellars of the churches and they have never been found again. The Catholic newspaper L’Armonia writes that they didn’t like the suspicion which had fallen upon the Catholic church as they guard the tombs in which some of the disappearances had occurred,” I mused while remembering the newspapers. They had been a large part of my life since my house arrest along with the radio as they were a window to the outside world which seems distant some days.

“Yes, it has gained quite a lot of attention in recent times. What humans don’t know is that we have created catacombs under the city. They are all connected to the churches which are our entrances. Do you know what lives in the catacombs?” Umberto asked and I frowned. No one lived underneath the city… Unless…

“A clan?”

“You are quite bright and will do well among us. Yes, we have a clan who cannot show themselves among humans as they are far too abnormal looking for them. We call them the Demon Clan. They call themselves the daemons. As you can imagine they are what created the myths of demons, devils and other monstrosities. If humans have vanished in the catacombs, then the daemons are most likely to blame,” Umberto continued calmly.

“Why haven’t you asked the Herald of the Demon Clan about this or have you already done so?” I bewilderedly asked as I considered with a shiver, the horror of living underground in the darkness.

“Because they don’t have one. Only a few clans have a Herald. Often those who have proven themselves or are large enough. The Demon Clan have no clear leader and often live alone, separated from their clan. As such, it’s hard to elect a Herald for them,” Amedeo explained with an absentminded gaze.

“Then what should I do, Signor?” I asked carefully.

“I want you to talk to them, determine if they are to blame. Get me a name, as it is most likely just a rogue Daemon who has gone mad. We need to stop this before it gains even more publicity and risk revealing us all,” Amedeo explained.

“Why my clan? Not to be rude, but we are a rather small clan. A larger clan would have more resources?” I asked with a frown. Amedeo nodded as he understood my caution.

“It because you are a small clan that I choose you. I hope that a clan not as involved in the Sovereignty might get answers from the deamons who has been rather reluctant to talk with ambassadors of the Sovereignty.”

“Then you just want the information. Not for us to handle the… Problem?” I asked discreetly and Umberto chuckled.

“The eagerness of youth is always inspiring but you should be careful. We won’t be angered if you solve the problem for us and will give credit when credit is due but this might be a bit too much for such a small clan. Daemons are few in numbers but those who live are old and most powerful. If one has gone mad, we will have to have great numbers of Ascendants to defeat the daemon. If there are several daemons… Then we are in trouble.”

“To conclude, be alert, get the information. Assess the situation and if you think that it’s too much to handle. Let your elders handle it for you. You are young and will get plenty of opportunities to show ability so don’t waste it on a fool’s errand,” Amedeo concluded and we said our goodbyes before I returned to my home to brief Alessandro and Carlo about the task.

Both Carlo and Alessandro listened attentively with a frown.

“Daemons… This complicate matters,” Carlo muttered as he paced around the room. Alessandro nodded.

“Daemons are complicated.”

“Why?” I asked and watched my kin who sighed.

“Because they are powerful. Nastily so. Do you remember me talking about abilities and the three affinities?”

I nodded. I did. All techniques fall under one of three affinities. Physical, mental or magical. All clans have the ability for one or two affinities while the others are nearly impossible to learn. I Soli’s abilities Solaris and Mastery are mental abilities while our third ability Blood Siphon, which gives us supernatural strength, speed, and healing ability by drinking blood is a physical ability. Which made magical abilities quite hard to learn for the members of I Soli.

“The Daemons have three mental abilities. Mastery, to erase or change memories, Semblance, which allows them to affect the victim's senses such a sight and erase themselves from their sight or maybe create an illusion, and the last one is called Primacy. It is closely related to Enthrallment but each daemon is born with it. It allows them to take control over their victims but unlike enthrallment, which can only create orders which cannot be disobeyed, Primacy doesn’t allow a free will. The victim cannot, talk, breath or think without the consent of the caster. The most frightening of all, unlike enthrallment, Primacy can be used against other Ascendants,” Alessandro explained grimly.

“But do not think that because the daemons are merely able to use mental abilities that they aren’t physically strong. Some are weak, sure, but most have transcended this disability by having monstrous bodies. Stories about giants and cyclops come from the daemons and some of them have the ability to rip a person apart, “ Carlo said bitterly and I got the feeling that he had seen this with his own eyes.

“What is their weakness?” I asked hopefully. That would certainly give me an advantage if it came to that.

“Their weakness is what makes them so dangerous. They are overemotional. Their anger, passion, jealousy, sadness, vanity and other emotions are heightened to the point that they cannot control them. It often drives them mad,” Alessandro replied dismally which made me groan. That did not help me at all.

“This is too much for her,” Carlo exclaimed.

“Not necessarily, the Sovereign merely wants information on who did it. Not for us to stop them. If she goes with Leonide, and to a more benign daemon like Charon, she should do well,” Alessandro mused.

“She needs to be trained though.”

“Trained?” I asked, baffled by his statement.

“Their mental ability can affect Ascendants but certain clans, those with mental abilities, are more resistant to it. If I train you by using Enthrallment, it may not affect Ascendants but it should increase your resistance to mental attacks, you should be fine.”

Carlo and Alessandro agreed to which course of action to take. Alessandro would train me while Carlo and Leonide got information about the daemons to find Charon, which apparently was an old daemon from ancient Greece, and gives me the best chance to complete my mission.

I trained for two days without rest while Carlo gathered information. Charon was underneath a church called San Francesco d’Assissi. Unlike a city like Rome, Turin hardly has things called catacombs but they have been secretly expanded upon by the daemons and they have entrances in the churches of Turin. As such, they are now called by the Ascendants The Catacombs of Turin.

Charon lived underneath such a church and was quite famous for gathering the youngest and lost among his clan to safeguard them from the surface. I asked why Charon had not been appointed as Herald. He seemed quite fit for the role.

Alessandro told me that the Sovereign had attempted such a thing as he hoped that Charon would be able to rally the daemons under one clan making them more docile. It did not work as Charon refused to serve the Sovereignty who had abandoned them in their prisons while they prospered on the surface.

This was the reason why a young I Soli member might succeed when the Sovereignty failed. The I Soli might be members of the Sovereignty but they had always been neutral and would just as well be a member of the Anarchy as a member of the Sovereignty. The I Soli had always helped the daemon and even given them refuge in the past. A thought which agreed with me as I did not like the thought of abandoning a clan in catacombs because humans did not like how they looked.

We finished our preparation and Leonide came to get me. As we were driven to San Francesco d’Assissi, he told me about his finds which were practically none. Seventeen people had vanished. All in churches and none had been found again. It was an unusually large number to go unrecognized for a while as this had not been given attention until recently. When I asked Leonide what the daemons would have wanted with the humans he told me that this always happens as the daemons kidnap people to mate with.

Normally, it would just be one gender as its often just one daemon who wanted a child. Men came back right away, as they weren’t needed for long, so people just assume they were drunk and got lost. Women were needed for a longer time and in most cities, the Sovereign has forbidden male daemons to breed with others than Ascendants for this reason.

But this time, the people were of both genders and all ages. There wasn’t a pattern which would normally exist if it was about procreation. What the real motive remained a mystery, one they might need to solve to conclude who the culprit is.