Surviving in the Demon's Academy as a Human

Aiden woke up and saw an unfamiliar ceiling he sat on the edge of the bed in the lavish guest room Lilith had assigned to him. His fingers ran over the silk sheets, a stark contrast to the scratchy, second-hand blankets he had known all his life. He stared at the ornate window, the pale, unnatural light of the Hellish landscape spilling into the room.

The image of Lilith's cold smirk and the searing pain at the back of his neck still haunted him. He was a slave now, bound to her will in ways he didn't yet fully understand. Her words echoed in his head—he would obey her, or the seal on his neck would punish him. He had no choice.

A knot tightened in his stomach as the reality of the situation settled in. He was terrified. Terrified of what would come next, terrified of what she could do to him, and worst of all, terrified that he couldn't escape.

Just as the silence in the room grew overwhelming, a figure appeared in the doorway, almost as if summoned by his very thoughts. Lilith.

She was standing there with her usual composed expression, but this time, there was something else in her eyes—a mischievous glint that didn't match the concern on her face. Her golden hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her red eyes shimmered with something unsettling. She tilted her head slightly, observing him as though this was all some kind of game.

"Well, well, looks like you're awake," she said, her voice light and teasing, like she hadn't just branded him with a seal that would bind him to her forever. "How's the bed? Not too shabby, huh? Better than that old rat's nest you were probably used to."

Aiden barely registered her words. His mind was still reeling from what had happened, but Lilith didn't give him a moment to process it all. She walked into the room, her eyes gleaming with a mix of amusement and something more dangerous.

"I'm sure you've got a lot of questions," she continued, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Don't worry. I'm not going to harm you… as long as you obey. You're a good pet, after all. But if you ever get any ideas about defying me, well…" She trailed off, the mischievous smile never leaving her face.

Aiden swallowed, still in a daze. Her words hit him like a punch to the gut, but there was no mistaking the threat lurking beneath the surface. He could feel the weight of the seal on his neck, as though it was pulsing with energy, waiting for the moment he would cross the line.

"You'll feel it," she said almost casually, as though she were talking about something trivial. "The seal. If you try to do anything... foolish. It'll burn like hellfire. But don't worry, I'll make sure you're comfortable as long as you follow the rules."

Lilith's gaze remained fixed on Aiden, her eyes glittering with an unreadable expression as she awaited his response. The silence between them felt thick, almost suffocating, and Aiden couldn't help but feel the pressure of the situation mounting. She had given him a chance to speak, to explain himself, and in a way, it felt like the only lifeline he had left.

In that moment, it struck him: ignoring her was the worst thing he could do. Sure, he could be terrified, confused, and uncertain about his place here, but there was one thing he had learned in his short time in Hell—surviving was about playing the game, not shutting himself off. And Lilith was the one holding all the cards right now. She could make his life miserable or offer him some strange kind of mercy, and the only way to navigate that was through communication. If he was going to survive, he had to talk to her, engage with her, understand her, even if every part of him wanted to avoid her after that brutal encounter.

With that reasoning in mind, Aiden took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves. He wasn't going to let fear paralyze him, not this time. This was Hell, after all—there were no guarantees. He had to make the most of what little control he had left.

"I'm Aiden," he finally said, his voice slightly trembling but steady enough to be heard. "I'm 17 years old."

He hesitated for a moment, not sure how much to reveal. "I, uh… I don't really have an occupation. I used to go to school. A pretty normal life, I guess. Nothing extraordinary. I was just... me"

Lilith's eyebrow quirked, urging him to go on. "Is that all, Aiden?" Her voice was playful, almost taunting, as though daring him to go deeper.

Aiden glanced away, his heart racing as his mind drifted back to his last memory. The pain was vivid, sharp—a flash of blinding light, the screech of metal against asphalt, and then… nothing.

"I remember… there was pain," he muttered, his voice growing distant as his mind raced. "I felt this sudden pain in my chest, and then… the world went dark."

His hands clenched the silk sheets as a thought crossed his mind—one he had been avoiding since waking up in this hellish place. What if…? What if he had died?

He swallowed hard, the realization settling heavily in his stomach like a stone. He had been on Earth, walking along the street—he remembered that much. The memory wasn't clear, but the sensation of a car speeding toward him, the sound of tires screeching as they couldn't stop in time, was unmistakable. That was it, wasn't it? He had been hit. He'd been killed.

"I think… I think I died," Aiden finally said, his voice soft but filled with a sense of dread. "I must've been hit by a car or something. That's the only thing that makes sense. The pain, then nothing… and now, I'm here."

He looked up at Lilith, searching for any sign of recognition in her expression, wondering if she had any answers, if she could confirm or deny what he had just realized. But her face remained unreadable, though there was a flicker of something—maybe curiosity or amusement—dancing in her eyes.

"How… how did I get here?" Aiden asked, the weight of his own confusion pressing down on him. "Did I commit some kind of sin? Is that why I'm in Hell?"

Lilith's laughter was the first thing Aiden heard in response, the sound light and almost mocking, as though his question had been a simple misunderstanding.

"Sin? Oh, Aiden, you think that's why you're here?" she asked, her voice laced with amusement. "No, no. I summoned you."

Aiden blinked, taken aback. "Summoned? You… summoned me?"

Lilith leaned casually against a nearby wall, her red eyes studying him with an intensity that made him feel even more exposed. "Yes, I wanted a companion," she said, the words nonchalant but filled with a strange, hidden meaning. "Not just any companion, though. Someone special. Someone who could entertain me." She let that last part hang in the air, the weight of her gaze making Aiden feel uncomfortable.

Aiden frowned, trying to understand what she meant. There was something off about it, something more than just wanting company. But before he could ask, another question came to mind—a bigger question that he couldn't ignore.

"Lilith," he said, feeling the gravity of the moment, "what is Hell really about? I mean, what's the point of all this? Why are we all here?"

Lilith seemed to pause for a moment, her expression shifting to something more serious, more contemplative, as if she were considering how much of the truth she wanted to reveal.

"Hell, Aiden," she began, her voice turning low and almost thoughtful, "Hell is a place born from a divine mistake." She straightened, her hands folding together as she spoke, her words almost matter-of-fact. "Originally, Hell was meant to be a dumping ground—a place where the gods could cast off everything they deemed vile and undesirable. They thought that by throwing the most troublesome creatures here—like the demons—they could end everything."

Aiden's eyebrows furrowed as he listened, his mind trying to wrap around the idea that Hell wasn't always this chaotic, endless wasteland.

"But they were wrong," Lilith continued, her eyes gleaming with something almost amused. "Instead of dying, the demons adapted. They didn't perish. They evolved, built societies, and began defying what the gods expected of them."

She gestured around the room, her expression distant, as though reflecting on the history of Hell itself. "Hell became more than just a prison. It became a place of survival. Chaos turned into order, in a twisted, distorted way. The strongest ruled, and the weak perished. It's a law as old as time here: survive or perish."

Aiden could feel his heart racing as he absorbed her words. He'd expected Hell to be a place of punishment, a prison for the damned. But it sounded more like a world where the only thing that mattered was power—how much you had, and how far you were willing to go to keep it.

"Over time," Lilith continued, "demons began to form their own hierarchies. Warlords, generals, kings… each stronger than the last. But it wasn't just strength that mattered. There were demons who became philosophers, mercenaries, craftsmen, traders—each carving their own place in this world. Hell became a place of civilization, a place of chaos turned into something more structured."

Aiden swallowed, trying to process the weight of the history Lilith was laying out. The idea of power being the only thing that mattered, the idea that weakness was a death sentence—it was all so overwhelming.

"But it's more than just a battleground," Lilith said, as though reading his mind. "Hell is free from the gods. We are not bound by their laws. We make our own, and that makes us powerful. But that freedom comes with its own dangers."

She locked eyes with Aiden, her gaze piercing. "Hell is a place where the strong thrive and the weak are crushed. Where betrayal, alliances, and wars break out every day. There is no mercy here. No salvation. Just survival."

Aiden felt his throat dry up as he realized the harsh truth of her words. There was no escape. No chance of redemption. In Hell, you either became stronger, or you became prey.

"The wastelands outside the cities," Lilith added, "are full of outcasts and monsters. Demons who failed to rise through the ranks or who were left behind. They fight for survival, every day, against each other and against the creatures that wander the land. If you're not strong enough, that's where you end up."

The gravity of everything she said weighed heavily on Aiden. He wasn't just in Hell—he was in a world where power was the only currency that mattered, where survival was constant, and where weakness meant certain death.

It was a lot to take in, and for the first time since he arrived, Aiden wondered if there was any way to ever leave this place. Or if his fate was already sealed, and he was now part of this brutal, unforgiving world.