The demons cheered like I was their sun; their world. The idea seemed absurd, I haven’t met anyone of. No familiar faces caught my attention. The people looked just like I had expected them too: Old barbarians.
They had not stopped clapping and I knew better than to walk off stage. Therefore, I use the moment to look around.
The banquet hall was full, with the feast tables spanning from the beginning all the way to the end. Maybe a mile long? Yes, humans also took the metric system from Euothia. In fact, they took everything intellectual from us. Due to Euothia’s most famous betrayers, Albert Einstein, Dimitri Mendeleev, and George Washington, the secrets and the unique systems were given away and built a different society. One that disgusts Euothians, no matter what species. As far as demons go, Aldof Hitler was the biggest we could do. Except, he went a bit wacky when the old committee had told him not to bring any new Euothian concepts into the world.
The applause dies down. Implying that I should exit through the staircase. Except for one problem: I can’t believe my eyes. Father and Mr. Bushé stand there like he was alive from the start.
The crowd’s completely silent, staring at me. What is wrong with me? Am I hallucinating? The man, father I’m completely sure, stands there, staring at me. Mr. Bushé has his crooked smile with something dripping down his face….
Blood
I can sense his feelings from here, except I can’t understand this one. The scent is grim, dark, deadly. Something I’ve never felt coming from Mr. Bushé if that is in fact him. His light brown hair had changed, turning a dark black from the tips. Enough for any stranger to recognize a situation. Mr. Bushé and father stare, the voice comes back, calling. I can’t help but recognize the silent desperate voice. Who is it?
The crowd had gotten help, mothers providing their children with empty answers. I can tell they don’t see what I see. It’s like only I can see them, I know they're real; their presence reeks of a unique scent. One I have never sensed before…
The ningers had managed to get the guards to escort me off the stage. Before I could cause any more commotion, I manage to pull myself together, getting off the stage to greet the guests. The demons start cheering, forgetting about the near past. They greet me. As instructed, I talk to the main nobles, in the hope of some loyalty in times of despair.
Times like The War, a war between Demon Domain and Angel Area, on which should be able to move through earth unnoticed. The war was never won, for the head of the angels had fallen ill. The heir had decided to discontinue the war. All casualties were discounted, leading to an era of protests and rallies in Demon Domain. Father, being the king he was, had taken care of it.
The first of the ningers had made it to my risen seat. Ready to engulf me with their own requests.
“Your majesty.” I don’t bother to put a smile on my face. Mother would be disgraced at my actions.
“Your request?”
“If you c-could increase the pay for the blacksmiths. This little girl's father...” she rubs the little demon’s cheeks to show innocence in the child before continuing, “had been a blacksmith for a year on end. So, sir…”
“Your majesty…” I interrupt.
“Your majesty,” she repeats in a sarcastic tone. The little girl grins, causing the voice to come back to the front of my head. Now screaming for help, I shiver, an act the lady notices and backs away.
I don’t bother to give her a promising answer. Blacksmiths are only useful when there is a war. The objective of Demon Domain is to stay top. No kingdom would now try and mess with us. Demon Domain contains the largest area, conquered.
Next, a disabled elder entered. In spite of the cane, he manages to climb up the steep staircase.
“Oh my king,” He manages to bow without holding onto his cane, “you must visit Earth. The area is beautiful.” He gives me a glaring smile. He knows I’ll be weaker when I come back. He plans for my death, as I feel the intense jealousy in his bones.
He stops silent, he knows what I sense. He whispers something under his breath and moves along.
The next family enters, a father with three little girls, who gasp when their eyes meet mine.
“Your hair is longer than mine!” The youngest girl shouts. Holding up her braid, her smile widens, with her shining blonde hair. I haven’t been treated as such since I was young.
I hold up my braid in return.
Father always kept his attire traditional when he was younger. He always seemed to wear robes in the pictures. Of course, his hair never grew to mine. Shortly after he became king, he turned his robes in for suits and cut his hair short. He expected me to change to be like him, I didn’t.
The father immediately slaps the small girl, knocking her back. Father mumbles a phrase about dignity. I reply back.
“If you want to teach your daughter dignity, try and not slap her in front of your king. Okay?” They stare at me. The other two girls, emotionless, no response to their father’s actions. Instead, the father drops his gaze to the floor while the little girl grows a smile.
She continues, despite her father’s grimace and the bruise on her cheek: “I love your cat, Mr. King! Does she need to keep her eyes closed though?” I sit rigidly from the girl's question. The father looks up, this time he had no idea what the girl had talked about. The thing is, the girl wasn’t spewing nonsense, because I know what she’s talking about.
Not what, but who:
Yehain.
I stand back down. I must’ve heard the last question wrong. And besides, getting away now would only make matters worse.
“Madaline, shut up. Can’t you just stop talking? I wish you just left.” The second girl yells. The third girl, no, woman, backs her sister up, “Lily is right, Madaline, you don't address the King of Demon Domain as Mr. King.”
“Shut up you two! You,” I point to the oldest woman, “back your youngest sister up! She’s so small for god’s sake! Can’t you just let her be?!” They stand, frozen. This time even the little girl, Madaline I presume, stands as still as a statue.
“I-I’m sorry for that outbreak.” I hear the voice in my head again. Calling for help in vicious screams, falling silent and then yelling again. I add on, “Even when I was a kid, I was taught to have no imagination. Still, the girl needs her imagination. Madaline, is it?” She takes a step forward as if ready for something similar to her dad’s actions. I continue despite her emotion, “Keep dreaming. Maybe you can meet Yehain one day?”
“Who is Yehain…”
“What?”
“Who is Yehain?”
“Oh, it’s my kitty. The one you were talking about, right?” Her face lights up and she rushes over to her father, who gives her a satisfying grin. They walk off. Only Madaline dares to wave back, and of course, I move my hand in a gesture called “waving.”
❊ ❊ ❊
The great banquet has been announced and I struggle to get off the tall chair. After a few tries I stubble back, hitting my head to the ground. Just as I recover from the fall, the voice comes back to my head. This time with a menacing scream, enough to make me clasp my hand to my ears, muting all the sounds around except for the voice, which only gets louder.
“Ah, the King of Demon Domain. I miss that.?” I remove my hands from my ear and pull myself up, just to get look at the creature which has only haunted me this night.
“Father…”
“Hugs?” He laughs at his own joke. Wiping the small tear growing in his eye. “What type of pathetic joke was that? Hah, mother’s right, Damian?” His face breaks into a sudden grimace. As if he’s had a grudge against her. A grudge…
Someone else in the background clears his throat: Mr. Bushé.
“It would be better if he went with me, Lucas.” Lucas Von Choclin, also known as the former King of Demon Domain, and as a father to Damian Von Choclin.
I pull myself together, searching for space where I can leave. Space, which I had never taken time to inspect, was circled by curtains.
I spot a gap between two other curtains, spotting a large woman dancing, life someone could identify such a movement as dancing.
Moving my gaze back and forth to keep an eye on both men, I make a run for it. Unfortunately, I never go to learn about dad’s power. For all I know, he could have some type of foreshadowing power, allowing him to think steps ahead of my actions.
Luckily, I manage to get through, bumping into the large woman who hadn’t been able to feel the impact.
I scamper around, staring at the guests who had no intention to see me. The banquet already set up with silverware, contains loads of them, starting up conversations with the people they had been forced to sit next to.
“Here, my king.” The waiter points to a seat, more defined than any other at the table. I take my seat, acting as if nothing had happened. Still wary that there are still people looking for me, I cautiously slump down as to hide the back of my head in front of the seat.
The ningers hadn’t recognized me. One or two stopped to get a glance like I had taken a saved seat. Just as I let my guard down, a woman, about my mother’s age, takes the seat next to mine. She smiles a smile that could never be counted as a fake. A genuine smile.
“Your majesty?”
“Y-yes?”
“Are you okay?”
I stay silent, the sudden gesture of kindness affecting my voice. Am I okay?
“You seem distracted. Am I right? What’s bothering you?”
“No, sorry. You’ve got it wrong. I’m perfectly fine. How are you doing?”
“Fine. Are you sure? The glare I get from you says differently. King Von Choclin,” she cups my hands in her own, “are you okay?”
In return I pull my hands away, startling the woman. The aura I get from her is unnatural. It’s like she’s a different person, one that I’ve seen before. A person that I could recognize.
The woman realizes I’m catching on. Looking for an excuse, her only option is to walk away and hide, hoping that the current king wouldn’t call the imperial guards.
Her hope wouldn’t be needed, she knows what I will do and what I will not, and at this moment she knows I won’t.
She looks back and forth, not to raise suspicion. Once the area has been cleared, she says one last thing: “Yehain’s in trouble. Can’t you hear her?”
Just then the voice comes back, this time as a large gashing scream. The voice, as of now, is one I clearly recognize: Yehain.
I look back and forth, the woman has left.
I have no clear goal. There is only a series of hints for me now. One, The girl, Madaline as I recall, said that the cat keeps her eyes closed. The woman said that Yehain was in trouble. Those two go together.
“Go outside, Damian…” I jump, the voice that had been in my head. Fortunately, no one has noticed my abrupt jump. The ningers keep grabbing food and talking in their own groups.
I listen to the voice, having no other lead. Covering up my face, I can’t help but look down, doing my best to avoid the demons.
“Help…”
“Don’t listen to her, Damian.”
“Help…”
“No!”
The voices, Yehain’s and the strange man’s, argue back and forth, causing a large headache and forcing me to clasp my palm to my forehead. The memories from seven years back, ones that still haunt me up to this day.
The scent comes back: Anger. The door is nearby.
Then suddenly, the voice, this time Yehain’s, comes back.
“I’m here, outside.”
“Damian’s coming, Yehain,” I whisper under my own breath. Hoping that somehow she can hear me, even if that hope is a tiny shard.
When I look back up the area looks different. The ninger’s are still around and the items are still in their spots. The only difference would be the color. It’s as if the area has been gray-scaled, other than a path, which shines a bright red, reminding me of blood.
The trail of red ends at the doorway and huddles up in a bright red ball, the shape of a cat.
I follow that path. The door automatically opens. I don’t mind it.
“Yehain?”
“Y-you h-heard me?”
“Where-”
The cat I see is nothing like Yehain. Her eyes bleed. I’m assuming that her blood season has started. This is her kind’s blood season. This is her kind’s new year.322Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLET7Hr80Nu
Yehain’s eyes are…
They’re…
No…
No…
NO…
“No…” My voice breaks. Yehain pulls her tail closer to her body. I stare at what’s been done. I fall to my knees, the water breaks from my eyes.
“Damian?” She’s confused. Just as I thought, she couldn’t see. You know why?
Because she’s blind. Her eyes are sewn.
I pick her up. She shivers, cold to my touch, like all demons. Holding her close to my chest, I can get a clear view of her face. The bloody tears stain my already red robe. The rest of her face looks just as before. Her eyes have a bright red thread that pierces through her eyelids. That’s definitely a magic needle. I sign, relieved because a normal needle would’ve hurt much more than a magic one.
Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming toward the door. As a precaution, I drop Yehain onto the mattress that I was assigned to ride in. Her tears bleed through the white pillows so I push her into the corner, maybe a little too harsh. She squeals in response. The demon on the other side pauses. Then he opens the door.
“Y-your majesty?”
“Mionvoti.” He stands started. I mean, I did just address him by his first name.
“Was that you who squealed? Are you okay?” This will be humiliating. I need a solid alibi.
“No, I’m not… I don’t know what’s gotten into me.” I do my best imitation of Yehian’s squeal. Which, by the look of Mionvoti’s face, has deceived him.
“We n-need t-to get y-you to the palace!” He mutters in a shaky voice, rushing over to the basket and spreading his wings. It only makes me jealous of them.
Mionvoti notices me starting, “What? I mean you have them too,” he points with his wings to mine. Of course, I was right, slightly. Suddenly, I had an urge to tell him everything. From the very beginning to now. Along with what happened to Yehain. Maybe he could help?
Just as I’m ready to open my mouth, Yehain squeaks. It’s as if she knew what I was going to do.
Mionvoti turns his head again, looking at me in a concerned way. Hesitantly, I imitate Yehain’s sound.
“Are you getting on?”
“O-oh yeah. Sorry.”
“No problem, your majesty. Is it a kind of demon cold?”
“What?” It takes me a second to understand Mionvoti’s comment. “Oh, I’m not exactly sure, Lyuoteil.” He suddenly jumps at his own name. “Did I mess it up?”
“N-no. It’s just that, your majesty, you sounded somewhat of my mommy. S-she’s in Angel Palatinate. Haven’t seen her in half a year.” The thought sounded pathetic. One, I wouldn’t prefer to be referred to like mommy and two, half a year was only fifty days. I knew he was talking about Euothian time. Any other time system would be confusing, especially to a king in Euothia.
I quickly get into the basket, making sure not to step on Yehain. Despite the questions I have for Mionvoti, I refuse to ask more about the sensitive topic.
Soon after we start flying back home, I search the pillows. It’s odd that she’s silent. I search for a few minutes, getting desperate, worried if she fell off. Suddenly, I see a small kitten, who rolled to the corner, sleeping. Her fur is white, with tan spots and two dots which are on the opposite side of her human form. I stroke the two dots. Unusual, I thought. The fur was black there, still a different texture from the fur around it.
Yehain’s eyes slightly open, staring me in the eyes. Then suddenly, she shivers. I put a pillow over her and back away, to give her some space. Being that close reminded me that Yehain’s still a humacat. It would be better if I gave her some personal space. I shouldn’t go touching people’s cheeks like that. Not even a cat’s, just to make sure it won’t poof back into a humacat. Now that would be humiliating.
Thinking about it, it took us around ten minutes to get to Demoxia. Getting back, it would be around thirty minutes, due to the counter wind.
Looking back at the banquet hall, I’m partially surprised. I expected some Ninger’s to be after my position. I mean, there was only that old man. After all, I’m twelve and everyone has some kind of vulnerability. Luckily for them, I have a large number of weaknesses. On the other hand, I’m lucky I have this potion.
The potion… What time did Mr. Bushé give it to me? Seven? It was definitely around that time. What time-
It’s 11:30. I glance up and down from the golden watch. Something I just recognized I was wearing. The potion would run out at 12:00, maybe even earlier. I need to get out of here.
I should be able to get to the palace before Mionvoti notices me changing.
I know that Mionvoti has seen me without wings and other such features, but my robe was hiding that when we first met and I never formally addressed my name until now, when I was normal. The only thing that Mionvoti should’ve noticed was the tail. Nevermind that, he’ll probably think it was some type of string.
As for the blood, all former angels interpret demons as killers. He probably assumed that it was training. That’s maybe why he kept calling me “Your majesty.” After all, he needs to start training if he’s joining the Demon Domain FA Guard. Fa standing for “Fallen Angel.” Fallen Angels don’t have much of a choice for what they do in Demon Domain. Unless the angel manages to do well, excelling in all their courses.
I glance up at Mionvoti, who has suddenly stopped. He’s lost in thought, staring North at what I presume to be Angel Palatinate. Does he miss home? Maybe I should talk to him, at least I’ll tell him to pick up the pace.
“You miss it?” He shivers, getting a cool breeze from the wind currents. He doesn’t look back at me until after a few seconds.
“What?” He looks at me confused, “O-oh you mean there…”
“If by there you mean Angel Palatinate.”
He snaps out of his trance, “Right. Sorry, my king. I will use more appropriate terms when talking to the highest royal.”
“That's not what I meant.” A loud breeze blocks my voice. As if it wanted to stop me from talking. Yehain does an unusual purr. As if she could think this breeze was relaxing? Mionvoti starts moving, ignoring my last comment.
How am I supposed to persuade my mother to turn Yehain’s eyes back to normal? While looking for the answer, it hits me:
What if it wasn’t magic at all? What if it was real?
That makes me think longer. Staring Yehain, I can’t help but wonder how much pain she had to go through. Not just now but in her whole past. The scars on her wrists, the gashes on her neck, the ripped ear, and the burnt paws. All injuries from what I assume were all her past lives. All the pain she had to see in each life. How people treated her. How she treated people. What she was forced to by those filthy humans. Even the word rings in my mind. Making me remember everything in the books: The clans, the people, the killers, the actions, and even the acts of kindness that were disregarded.
Humans have limited kindness. They think they can only do such things. The ones that spark a revolution are the ones that had left us. People like Albert Einstein, the angel who had created the Angellsville library, the largest archive in the world. Others like Aldof Hitler, a famous killer in Demon Domain, Dimitri Mendeleev, a chemical artist in squadrine land, George Washington, the best of the battle cavalry general in squardrine land. There were too many. Most of the artists for songs, books, and pictures were from the Candy Kingdom. Others like the generals were from squimer land. Everyone had once lived in Euothia and had given their lives to escape and help “The Offspring.” The Offspring was a name for the humans, who had originated from Euothia. However, they are now called humans because that’s what they had named themselves.
It surprises me that I learned all of this from one chapter.
The wind brushes off my robe. I shiver in return. Surprisingly, Yehain acts fine, continuing her purring as if the air was warm for her. I pull a pillow up and grab her slowly, stuffing her into the pillowcase.
Her eyes open. I stand there, ready for her to bite me, or at least hiss. Fortunately, she understands, helping me by getting inside herself.
Mionvoti coughs, reminding me that there is still a presence and that I’m not alone. I precariously balance Yehain on my legs, acting as if I was patting down the pillow.
In the corner of his eye, Mionvoti sees me.
“We’re almost there.”
“Okay, thank you, Lyuoteil.”
“No problem. I-I mean. I understand, my king.”
I chuckle under my breath. I don’t expect him to hear when I say, “Stop.”
“W-what?”
I look up at him, directly in the eyes. “Stop, just stop addressing me like that. Talk to me like a normal demon. Nothing fancy.”
He laughs, catching me off guard. The look on his face shows approval. I jump, for a tear falls down his cheek. Then, he quickly turns around, responding with, “That’s such a relief, Damian. Call me Mion?”
“Why Mion?”
“It’s what they called me.” I don’t bother to ask who he means by them, for I already know: Mion’s family, at home.
My tongue slips, “you want to go there, Mion?”
“What? Are you crazy? They’ll attack you in less than a second! Who knows what your mother will do? I can’t believe the King of Demon Domain would say that!”
“It was just a joke…”
“Okay?”
“Are we there yet?” I pat Yehain’s pillow down. In hopes to fool him.
“We should be arriving at our destination soon. Thank you for flying Mion Airlines!” He laughs at his own joke if that was a joke. I can’t tell. Was I supposed to understand that?
“Was that not funny? It was a flight attendant! You know, those people who…” Mion loses his energy. “Oh, right… A flight attendant is like a person who works on an airplane. It’s a thing that does the same thing as me. Except, way…” He holds the “way” for an excessive amount of time. “ Bigger! Like a thousand times bigger! Maybe even a million!”
The number Mion used to describe the “airplane” was surprising. As I always thought, humans could never have technology like that. The textbooks I own say differently. I would need to see such an advancement for myself before I believe it. One person’s words can’t change my mind.
A loud thud marks the end of the descent. I quickly get off. Being mindful not to drop Yehain. Mion acknowledges my pillow. Luckily, he doesn’t say anything. Instead, Mion gets back to cleaning the cot.
I hope he hasn’t noticed.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
