Chapter 10: The city in the sea
And as Hon and Xuan did their things, Florence, Moka and Adam literally broke into Cornelia’s house and tied her up on the chair in the kitchen she previously sat on with her sister. They sealed her with an ofuda paper, which they stuck on her forehead before, and now she wasn’t able to move at all.
They locked Stroke into his cage and sealed it too, so now there were zero chances of the crow escaping.
„So? What are we going to do with her?“ Moka asked.
„The hell I know! She’s my sister... I won’t be able to lock her up or punish her so... I’m leaving her to you.“ Florence said, her eyes still following Cornelia’s face.
„Don’t you want to add some words? Like, „don’t be too harsh on her“ or something?“ Moka asked and looked at Florence.
„No. She was always like that. I don’t care what happens to her, I just don’t want to see it.“
„Does she have any other relatives than you?“
Florence sighed. „She has one daughter. I’ll take her to the Gluttony kingdom with me.“
„Alright.“ Moka nodded and sat on the other chair, right in front of Cornelia.
„M-mom?“ a child’s voice came from the doors. Florence recognized it and she immediately knew it was Klara. She came to her and blocked the view of her mother.
„Klara, my dear. You will live with auntie Florence for a while, what do you think of it? You’ll be living in a huge palace and be free to do anything you like! You’ll be like a real princess!“
„But what about my mom?“
„She’ll go on a short vacation with this lady right here. Don’t you think your mom... Deserves this?“
„...She does a lot for everyone here... I think she deserves some time to relax...“ Klara said in a small voice and tried to look at her mother, but her view was blocked by both Florence and Moka.
„Can I go too?“ Klara asked.
„You can’t, child.“ Instead of Florence, Moka replied. „It’s no place for children.“
„But I’m not a child anymore! I’m over 2000 years old!“ Klara yelled, but all of the present folks sighed.
She might be 2000 years old like everyone else, but because she died with a 8 year old mindset, she never got to fully grow up and understand what’s going on.
„It’s okay, sweetie... I just want to spend some time with you since we didn’t see each other for 2000 human years! Or, would you like to stay with someone in this village?“ Florence gave her a gentle smile.
„No... This body is annoying... I’ll go with you. Where is mom right now?“
„She’s resting now.“
„I see... If she leaves without saying goodbye, please, tell her that I love her.“
„I surely will.“ Moka said and nodded. She was already thinking about the best torture methods for Cornelia and Xuan, and kinda messed these words of Klara to „Tell her I DON’T love her“. That will surely help her a lot.
„What about going to sleep now? It’s late...“ Florence suggested, held Klara’s hand and walked her to her room.
She soon returned and whispered: „We need to get her away. Will you go now, or are you waiting for Yumeno?“
„I’ll wait for his highness until tomorrow, so I am going to take her somewhere else for now where no one sees her. You should stay here and take care of that child.“ Moka replied and stood up.
She picked Cornelia up, easily hung her over her left shoulder and held the bird cage with Stroke in her right hand.
Florence set her off and sat down behind the table with Adam. They spent some time just looking at each other and soon enough Florence lay her head on the table and immediately fell asleep. Adam just smiled, stood up and put a blanket over her.
Moka jumped on the roof, still holding tied up and knocked out Cornelia in one hand and Stroke’s bird cage in the other. She made her way directly to the shrine.
She laid both of her prisoners somewhere in the corner and she herself had lain on the altar. As a demon, she didn’t give a damn about gods, since they were so far from their reach and so boring, probably not even real, that she gladly ignored that the comfortable table was actually altar.
She was looking around for a while, but then she decided she’s too bored, so she checked on Cornelia and Stroke again and fell asleep soon after.
And so, the night passed, and the next morning, as if all of them agreed on it, they met in the shrine.
First it was just Moka, Florence and the two criminals. Adam stayed in Cornelia’s house, looking after Klara.
Xuan and Hon fell asleep in the same position they ended up at night and they woke up embracing each other with the sunrise.
They just smiled, stood up and with comfortable silence between them returned to the village.
Hon seemed to be okay and his usual self now and Xuan was relieved. He just needed to rent a bit and it was totally okay.
He still had no idea what to do when he returned to the demon realm, but he decided to just go with the flow until he panics again.
They first came to the fountain, but seeing no one was there, they automatically went to the shrine.
Hon came in first, telling Xuan that if Moka tried anything, he would protect him.
„Your highness.“ Moka slowly bowed and Hon just nodded back.
He noticed Florence crouching down next to her sister in the corner, waiting for her to wake up.
„Are you going to punish that human yourself or should I do it?“ Moka asked when Xuan walked in, but Hon lifted his hand in front of him, protecting him.
„No one will touch him.“
„But he hurt you, so, as the law says, he shall be punished.“
„But I am a king, thus, I can change the law and, thus, I’m giving him the privilege to stay alive.“ He highlighted both ‚thus‘ to sound more intimidating.
„You’re getting too attached to your pets.“
„What’s wrong with that?“ Hon asked and gave her a sarcastic smile.
„Your highness, I missed you.“ Moka said and smiled back.
„...I missed you too...“ Hon replied and relaxed his hand. She wouldn’t do anything after that.
„So? What will you do with them?“ Florence asked from the back and stood up.
„I’m leaving t-that to Moka. You can do anything with Cornelia, but don’t hurt Stroke much. Wait until I g-get back, we’ll let other monarchs know about him and decide his f-fate together.“ Hon said and walked a bit closer with Xuan behind his back.
„Okay. By the way, you should fix your speech soon. It doesn’t suit you.“ Moka pointed out.
„I‘m working on it.“ Hon said and glanced at Xuan.
„Yumeno, please wait. Cornelia’s not a criminal, but... She might be a bigger threat in the future. I don’t know how to ask this but... Can you... Kill her for me? You know, end her for good.“ Florence suddenly asked.
„If you don’t want her to suffer, why won’t you do it yourself?“ Hon asked, already knowing the answer.
„How could I? She’s my sister. I don’t care what happens to her, but I don’t want to have her blood on my hands. Think about it as my... Welcome back gift for you?“ Florence smiled at Hon.
„I can’t do anything while I have this seal on me. Moka, how far is the portal?“
„If you rush it’s about 10 minutes, but normally and with a basic human body it would take a day. Maybe 15 hours if you take the shortcut through the dried snapdragon field.“
Hon thought about his answer for a while, but then replied: „Alright, you take these two and go to my palace.“
„And what about you?“
„I want to see the dried snapdragons.“ Hon replied and Moka just politely smiled and nodded.
„And what about you, Florence?“ Hon asked and looked around, not seeing Adam anywhere.
„I’ll be taking care of Cornelia’s daughter from now on. I don’t want her to see those cursed flowers, so we’ll probably take the longer way.“ Florence said and came closer to Hon.
She hugged him and he, still unwillingly, hugged her back. „You’ve changed a bit.“ He said.
„You’ve changed too. See you soon.“ She said, whispered something into his ear and let go of him.
The thing she whispered to him was a way how to break the seal with a human and how to easily transfer him to the demon realm.
She came for Adam and Klara and, together, they left the village. Slowly, they started walking towards the seal, all three of them carrying big smiles on their faces.
Although, Florence’s one was fake right now.
Moka took the criminals, nodded at Hon, gave a deadly stare to Xuan and swiftly left.
„So, it‘s just the two of us now, huh?“ Xuan asked.
„Finally.“ Hon said and nodded. They walked out of the shrine and left the village soon enough.
They strayed from the path and walked the much narrower path in the woods.
„What is the dried snapdragon field?“ Xuan asked.
„It’s basically a dried snapdragon field. You know how sn-snapdragons look? It’s just a field of them, b-but they are all dry because they are so close to the portal and it’s s-sucking up all of it’s magic.“
„Those flowers are magical?“
„All flowers are. But humans and monsters can’t see it.“ Hon said and looked around, seeing some flowers overflowing with magic that Xuan couldn’t see.
„Unfortunately, you won’t be able to see the best things about the demon realm.“ Hon said and looked at Xuan, expecting his reaction.
He, instead of being sad or anything like that, asked, with a smile: „But I’ll be able to see you, won’t I?“
„You will. You’ll see my true form and true forms of everyone you have j-just met very soon. We aren’t much different from our human ones.“
„You can modify your human bodies so it’ll look like you?“
„Basically.“
„And what does your demon form look like?“ Xuan asked and turned to Hon, his eyes shining.
„W-well... I’m a bit taller... I usually wear different clothes from this, from different age... And! I have horns and all limbs!“
„Y-you have horns?“ Xuan was a bit surprised. He just couldn’t imagine Hon with horns.
„I do. They are dark red, matching my eyes. Right, my eyes are red... A-and my skin is literally gray.“
„That’s really interesting. I can’t imagine you like that... And your hair?“
„Don’t worry, you’ll see me like that soon.“ Hon laughed a bit. „And my hair is pretty much the same. Just... A bit longer.“ Hon said and smiled.
He thought that his demon version was more attractive than this human one, but he didn’t have time to care about looks at this point.
„I can’t wait to see it! You’re already so hot like this I-“ Xuan stopped himself from saying more weird things and Hon was a bit surprised.
He thought that Xuan was probably thinking that, but who would ever guess he would say it out loud?
„Wh-what was that?“
„N-nothing. Uh, we were talking about flowers before, weren’t we? What’s your favourite flower?“ Xuan changed the subject quickly, hoping Hon forgot what he just said.
„M-my, uh, favourite fl-flower? It’s probably dried snapdragon.“
„That’s why you wanted to see that field?“
„...I wanted you to see it...“
Both of them looked at each other, silently. Hon didn’t know if he should say more about it and Xuan just generally had no idea how to reply. Should he just say thanks? Or not say anything at all?
After a while, as they walked in silence, Xuan said: „Is it... That beautiful?“
„Not really. It’s actually terrifying. But you seem like you want to know more about me, so...“ Hon said awkwardly and coughed.
„That’s... Thank you.“ Xuan said and smiled.
„And what about your favourite flower?“ Hon asked. Xuan gave it a thought, but still replied: „No idea.“
„Hmmm... I think you would like Pohutukawa. But it’s a tree though.“ Hon said and looked at Xuan who looked back at him in confusion.
„Pohut- what? I’ve never heard of it.“
„It’s a tree that grows in New Zealand. Its flowers are crimson red and very pretty.“
Xuan had no idea what the hell is a New Zealand, so he decided to ignore it and asked instead: „Will you show it to me one day?“
„Sure. One demon planted one of them in the park n-near my palace, I can take you there later.“
„Thank you! What’s with you wanting to show me various flowers I’ve never heard of?“
„I don’t know. I’ve been told that as a demon monarch, I shouldn’t have any hobbies, b-because they show my weakness and I have more important things to do. B-But you don’t think about me as of your king, so, I guess I just want to share things I like with you...“ Hon said and smiled.
„That’s really nice of you...“ Xuan smiled back and they walked forward in silence again.
Hon broke the silence soon: „I seriously need to fix my speech.“
„I think you’re fluent enough now.“
„N-Not at all. I might seem fluent to you, but this is far from what I actually sound like. I w-won’t be able to speak in front of my people when I get back.“
„You can’t fix 50 years in just a few days.“
„But I have to.“ Hon insisted.
He actually had to. As a king, he didn’t have to explain his actions at all, but the only thing that he had to do was to speak properly.
He actually didn’t have to, after a bit of thinking, but while other demon monarch like Florence or Dante did as they pleased, Hon was always being pressured by his whole kingdom and his people who thought of him as useless for many years and convinced him that the old king was much better in ruling and kept on repeating things such as „You’ll be our downfall“, „You don’t deserve this all“ and so on.
These things made Hon so insecure all the time that he didn’t know what to do with himself anymore and tried to be as perfect as possible for the sake of him as a person, and also him as a monarch.
He wasn’t really respected back then and after 50 years, the least he could do was stay perfect all the time. If he wasn’t perfect, he was afraid that he might lose all of his remaining self-respect.
And there was another thing Hon feared. What if someone actually started a war with him, right after he gets back? He couldn’t possibly kill his subordinates, could he?
„Then let’s talk a bit more. Tell me something about the demon realm, or your kingdom! What does it look like?“ Xuan asked and turned his head to face Hon.
„Well... There are lots of roofs...“
„Roofs?“
„It’s the one unusual thing about my kingdom... Y-You won’t find it anywhere else. People of Violence really had something for roofs, I guess. It was like that even before I came.“
„Before you came... I’ve been thinking about this for a while... How could you be the king for 300 years if time doesn’t exist there?“ Xuan wondered.
„You’re wrong. I’ve never said that time d-doesn’t exist in the demon realm. I just said that the past is future and future is present. To be honest, nobody knows how time in the demon realm works, s-so we just count everything in human years.“
„But, how? I still don’t get it.“
„Basically, there are souls of people from all times. They’ve b-been there the entire time, not only after their death. Demon realm b-basically doesn’t have anything to do with the human one. Time... Works normally there, it’s just t-that people are all the same age and live a little longer than mortals... O-Or shorter. Depends on who they meet.“
„Wait wait wait. I have multiple questions now.“
„Feel free to ask. B-But it’ll be easier for you to understand once you get to see for yourself.“
Xuan thought about what to ask first. He had a lot of things on his mind after this explanation.
„Then... What do you mean by shorter? Aren’t human souls immortal once we die?“
„They are. But immortality doesn’t mean never dying, did you know that?“
„Isn’t immortality about never dying?“
„Not at all... You saw for yourself, didn’t you? W-When Florence absorbed the soul of that archer.“
„Oh... So... The weak souls get absorbed like that? Is that it?“
„Weak d-demons get absorbed by the stronger ones... That‘s just how it is. But all the weakest souls got absorbed by the stronger ones l-long ago... Most of the demon realm's citizens are equally strong.“
„But there are still some stronger ones, aren’t there? Like you, or those other monarchs you mentioned earlier... Why don’t you just absorb everyone and become the strongest?“
„What’s the point of being a king when you don’t have anyone to rule over?“
„Isn’t that somehow a dumb reason?“
„Most of the demon realm’s rules are incomprehensible for humans.“ Hon said and smiled.
„They really are... Thanks for explaining this... Then... If there are people from all times, is there another version of me?“ Xuan finally asked the question Hon was lowkey afraid of. He calmed down soon enough and replied:
„Most likely.“
„Then, when I die, will I become him?“
„That’s really hard to explain... The two of you w-will just fuse, and if he was someone important, you’ll probably alter yourself or your position after you die.“
„How?“
Hon sighed. He hated it when someone asked him about this topic, because it was really hard to explain and he wasn’t very good at it.
„Look, I’m not too sure about it. B-but I think I did it once.“
„You? Really? But- How?“
Hon sighed „I don’t really want to talk about it right now...“ Hon realised that Xuan’s more clever than other people, he even seemed like he understood most of this stuff, which even he didn’t fully get before.
„Simply, your soul shouldn’t change a lot, since the already d-dead you isn’t a ghost king. And even if you were, you would already know.“
„Am I really not?“
Hon shook his head. „No. There are 9 demon monarchs and I know all of them, except the new Treachery one and you, surely, aren’t any of them.“
„But, what if I‘ve changed through the years and you just don’t recognize me?“
„Would it matter?“ Hon asked and they stayed silent for a while.
„...How does one become a demon monarch?“ Xuan asked all of a sudden.
„There are many ways... Sometimes you just have to have the potential for it.“
„And how does one get it?“
Hon was getting a bit nervous, because he didn’t know much about it and he really didn’t want to say something that’s not entirely true.
He didn’t mind Xuan asking so many questions, but this topic in general was a bit uncomfortable to talk about and he was already confusing himself.
„I-I don’t really know. Someone goes on a killing spree to e-earn power, someone talks a lot to earn respect...“
„So, to become a demon king, you just have to kill lots of people?“
„Don’t say „just“ like that...“ Hon was getting a bit uncomfortable.
Xuan got too deep into the topic, but Hon wasn’t the best one for conversing it.
„Did you go through a lot?“
„Pretty much...“ Hon couldn’t remember much from his life, although he was sure that he didn’t kill only one person.
„I’m sorry for that... If you don’t mind... When was the last time you killed someone and absorbed their soul?“ Xuan asked and faced Hon.
Hon was losing all of his willpower to talk about it, but still replied: „Few days ago. In y-your house.“
„Oh...“
They walked silently again and Hon was happy that Xuan wasn’t asking about this stuff anymore. He didn’t feel any kind of regret for what he did, after 300 years of thinking about it, he just accepted that he wouldn’t be where he is right now without doing so.
„How does one get a mortal body?“ Xuan broke the silence with another question.
„You can possess either living humans and absorb t-their souls while doing so, or, you can just possess freshly dead bodies.“
„And what about your body?“
„I’ve changed bodies quite often during the past 50 years... But all of them were already dead. I w-wouldn’t be able to kill someone again... Probably...“ Hon thought about it and looked at his palm.
It was really easy for him to take just anyone’s life, since the law didn’t reach him anyways.
„Then, what about Cornelia?“
„What about her?“
„Will you be able to absorb her soul?“
„...I guess I’ll have to...“ Hon replied, not looking at Xuan at all. He watched his steps and soon noticed the setting sun. Just how long have they been walking for?
It was around 10am when they left, how was there already a sunset? It must’ve been around 7-8pm. They walked pretty far and with all kinds of questions, they didn’t even notice how the time passed.
And then, Hon remembered that Xuan’s a human and he hasn’t eaten anything since the day before.
„X-xuan... You... Aren’t you hungry? You haven’t eaten anything since yesterday...“
„Kinda... But I forgot about it while talking to you.“ Xuan smiled.
„But you should eat something. I for-forgot about this... I don’t know if you’ll be able to eat anything in the demon realm...“
„It’s okay, I’ll find something to eat eventually.“ Xuan tried to comfort him, but Hon was still worried about him.
„Uh... Aren’t there an-any apple trees or something? I can’t let you starve...“
„It’s really okay- uh!? Hon, watch out!“ Xuan suddenly yelled.
„What is it?“ Hon turned around to see Xuan, but he didn’t understand what he should watch out for. There weren’t any traces of danger there.
„It’s just- That flower looks like... It's screaming?“
„Screaming face you say?“ Hon turned around once again and now he was facing a few flowers that actually looked like screaming human faces!
„Don’t worry. That’s dried snapdragons.“ Hon explained.
„That is your favourite flower?! Aren’t snapdragons colorful and lively?“
„They are... I guess. Anyways, this means we’re getting closer to the portal.“
„So, we’re going to see the entire field filled with these flowers?“
„Yes.“ Hon nodded and he suddenly felt someone grabbing his hand. It was, obviously, Xuan, who rushed to him, while he was talking before.
„Well, I am scared. Is this okay?“
Hon was stunned and didn’t know how to react, soon he just sighed and nodded. He held Xuan’s hand like this for a while, they walked down the path, which was filled with lots of dried snapdragons and, eventually, they reached the field.
Xuan squeezed Hon’s hand harder and held his breath for a while and then released it all at once: „I don’t understand how you like these.“
„I don’t know either. It just fascinates me how something as beautiful as snapdragons can turn out like this.“
Xuan nodded and said: „The dragon skull flower.“
„What? You know about that name?“ Hon asked, surprised.
„I’ve never seen them myself before, but my grandma told me a story about them when I was a child and told me to stay away from them.“
„Let me guess... It was a story about an evil d-demon killing people and their souls then possessed the flowers and expressed their feelings through the screams?“
„Not really. It was a story about a few travellers, who found very pretty flowers one day... Probably freshly grown snapdragons... And they took some home, for their families to see. After a few days, one of those travellers’ daughter died, and the next day, they found dragon skull flowers on the place where she died... It is quite popular story from where I am.“ Xuan said and sat down on the hill above the field, dragging Hon down with him.
„That's a very interesting story too...“ Hon admitted and thought about it for a while.
„Grandma didn’t explain the story any further, but I was so afraid of pretty flowers and never picked any up, because I thought I will die and turn into dragon skull flowers.“
„Wasn’t it more like a warning to not pick up random pretty flowers?“ Hon asked and looked at Xuan, who was still facing the field.
„Probably...“ Xuan replied, silently, keeping on looking at the sun setting behind the flower field. He was still holding Hon’s hand and rested his head on Hon’s shoulder.
Hon didn’t mind at all and rested his head on Xuan’s. They sat silently for a bit, but Xuan couldn’t help asking another question that’s been bugging him ever since Hon’s explanation of the souls in the demon realm:
„What if my soul is already gone?“
„What do you mean?“
„What if somebody already absorbed it? Will I come back just because I met you, or, will I...“
„I honestly don’t know.“ Hon cut him off. He never experienced anything like that before, so he really didn’t know if he would just come back or not.
Xuan squeezed Hon’s hand a little and sighed: „I see...“
They stayed sitting in silence for a while, following the sunset with their eyes. After a few minutes, when the entire field got covered in darkness, they stood up and continued their way to the portal.