"Your Majesty Kairon."
It was a surprise for Boota to see him. Whenever someone got heads, Boota expected that Mammon would use someone valuable to a person to transform reality either to a dream or a nightmare. He had watched Kairon from his rise down to his fall. He was one of those viels closest to the royal family, second to Kou who tagged behind Kairon everywhere. The queen nearly adopted him as a son but decided against it because of Canaan's prejudice against viels. They were freaks after all. The royal family's blood should not be stained by filth. He was close to the queen but Kairon merely acknowledged and respected his presence as he did to others.
"It is nice to see you that you are well and alive," Kairon greeted. "How is my Kou?"
"He is still in a critical condition."
Kairon's gentle expression darkened before a smile split his lips. A shiver ran down Boota's spine. This was not His Majesty. He would never have such a sordid expression.
"Did Soleil do it? Was she the one who hurt him?"
"She was left with no choice. She was used by the human."
Kairon wiped a mask of disappointment and frustration down his face. He turned his back to Boota and began to whisper. "No choice no choice no choice no choice no choice–"
"Your Majesty, stop."
"DID WE NOT BUTCHER YOU ENOUGH TO EXPAND YOUR CHOICES?!"
Kairon faced Boota, his eyes were gone from his sockets. Blood trailed down his pale cheeks that gradually darkened into charcoal. He reached out to Boota; strong and disastrous winds blew as the previous king's jaw stretched, the ends of his lips split. The pitch of his scream started low and slowly became high-pitch.
"YOU FUCKING PARASITE!!! YOU KILLED US ALL!"
Boota gasped when Gaku spat water to his face. The fish was already groveling for forgiveness.
"Forgive me, master! I would accept any punishment. It was the only way to wake you up!"
His fish servant merely spat water to his face but his entire body was shivering and cold. The casket behind him disintegrated into black sand that retreated and vanished into different directions. Gaku waited for a kick or a verbal reprimanding yet none came much to his disappointment.
"Master?"
He looked up and pulled himself from his knees. Boota's eyes were wide. His jaws were clenched. He was stiff in place. That damn devil must have shown something unsettling to his master since they got heads.
"Master, let us proceed. If we don't move now, we will be letting that devil win."
Boota took several deep breaths. His eyes were tightly shut as he regained his composure. He wanted to get this over with but knowing what Mammon had up his esurient and sly sleeve was unnerving.
"Lead the way, Gaku."
This night may be a curse for some, but it was a blessing and a dream come true for the steadfast sea-creature residing on land.
Jinx was pacing back and forth. It was taking all of Karma's willpower not to throw the pot hanging behind him.
"We should get away while we can. Basil and Boota can handle him. The longer we stay the more likely that devil will catch us!"
Soleil was looking down on her clenched fist. She didn't want to show the children how troubled she was by the situation. There was more than one devil prowling in the forest. Most likely their target was their wounded general. Why they wanted Kou was the real question. What was he doing that garnered the attention of the rulers of hell? The rest of the viels thought he had perished along with the old capital.
"We came here because the only one who can help Kou is Boota."
Jinx stopped his stride, grabbing Karma by his arms. "Exactly! We can leave Kou here and ask for help!"
Karma pried his pesky hands away. "We did ask for help, that's why we're here! Where else are we going to get help?"
"Hiraeth!"
"We just came from there!"
The two boys continued to bicker. Their voices seeped through the door that provided privacy for Kou who remained unconscious and for the knight watching him on the floor beside the futon he was resting in. Moonlight gently caressed his bandaged skin. Kou appeared to be having a bad dream based on his grunts and whines.
"What are you dreaming of?" the knight queried in a hushed voice.
Kou had looked everywhere; his king was nowhere to be found. At first he thought that the king was playing hide-and-seek as he usually hid from Kou upon waking up. Kairon knew it was futile to hide from a being who had a part of a werewolf in him, but he wasn't an ordinary human. He would conceal himself using magic to make the game more thrilling.
"Prince, Kou doesn't want to play anymore. Kou gives up!"
It was strange for Kairon to leave the pot boiling to the point where the broth would spill excessively. He was inexperienced with cooking but he had gained enough practice to minimize the mess.
The sky outside was still dark. The rain kept pouring. Did Kairon go outside in this kind of bad weather to get a missing ingredient? Kou could live without potatoes in his stew today. Heck, it didn't matter if they merely had tasteless soup.
"What's that smell?"
He squirmed out from under the bed, initially pinching his nose from the offensive and repulsive scent of rot. The scent was everywhere but even with his sharp nose he couldn't locate the source.
"Your Majesty, where are you?!"
Something was not right. Kairon wouldn't make him worry this much. Kou ran outside, letting the cloudburst drench him.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
Come back…
"Come…back…"
Tears gushed out from Kou's swollen eyes. It was a soft and weak whisper. The knight placed his hand on top of his, unspeaking. It wasn't the time yet. There was still so much to do. He glanced at the door, hearing footsteps approaching.
Soleil lightly knocked against the door, pushing it and letting the noise coming from the boisterous teenagers invade for a moment before the door was shut again. Soleil walked over the empty seat, taking Kou's hands in her slender ones.
"General Kou, I'm sorry for putting you in this situation. I'll do everything to help you get back on your feet again…" She smiled, stroking away the beads of tears from Kou's eyes. "But please, don't give yourself false hope anymore. King Kairon is finally at peace. He's never coming back."
"Soleil, Basil is back!" Jinx called out. Soleil bent, kissing Kou's forehead.
"Rest, general. We'll handle this."
She stood, heading outside and leaving Kou in the company of the stranger again. He stepped out from the shadows, reclaiming the seat that Soleil borrowed.
Basil was by the door. He was giving a foreboding expression. "Can you come down here, Soleil? I need to speak with you."
"What's it about?"
She jumped down from the treehouse, leaving Jinx and Karma inside.
The serpent had a thin sheath of sweat on his skin. "We met with the devil, he made us play a game."
"What kind of game is it?" Was Soleil's first question but from the looks of Basil, she tampered her primary question with: "What is the game making you do?"
"She wants me…She wants me to eat you."
"Basil…"
Jinx nearly fainted. They were eavesdropping on their conversation. They had the right to know what was happening out there. They had the right to eavesdrop.
"Wait, you're kidding, right?" Jinx queried, lips divided with a nervous grin.
"I have to do this for Kou," was Basil's response.
"We can work on a plan, Basil. Don't give in–"
Soleil blocked the stinger that went straight to stake her head. The serpent's tail rushed in assault. Since Soleil was faster, she was able to dodge and deflect the attacks until a woman jumped down from Basil's back.
"Belladonna?"
She beamed at her lovely phoenix. She was magnificent. All that hard work of severing her limbs and stitching up new ones while keeping her mind and body alive did not go in vain.
Soleil almost gagged at the flash of a memory of the bucket beside the cold and metallic bed she was restrained to. It started off empty and as days went by the bucket was filled with her organs and extremities. Flies hovered her flesh. The smell was repugnant and the scientist would often complain about the contents rotting.
'Ugh, would you throw that out already? We don't need them anymore.'
'Are you sure?'
'Just throw it somewhere or yeah, feed it to the werewolf caged in the basement. There's a new orphan coming and Miss Belladonna says he's going to be our biggest project yet.'
'Yeees! I can't wait to cut more things up!'
Soleil gritted her teeth. She screamed at the last block against Basil's tail, leaping high up from the ground to smash her face. Basil glanced up, his eyes lit just in time to capture Soleil's attention.
Her body went rigid. Her legs started to harden and appear like a statue. As she was paralyzed, Basil grabbed the opportunity to take her.
"Good job, my child. I would have preferred if you consumed her when she was still soft."
"When will you stop?!" Soleil shouted at Belladonna. Half of her legs were already turned into stone. "When will you stop destroying what humanity we have left?!"
Belladonna smiled without a single trace of guilt from her face. "You were made not to be humans any longer, sweetie. Eat her, Basil, and I promise you that you'll win the game.
Soleil glanced at Basil. A lone tear escaped her eye as the curse of Medusa defeated her. Kou wouldn't have wanted that.
'What are you doing? Why are you stealing snacks from Kou?!'
Soleil's eyes were wide after getting caught red handed inside Kou's room. They had their training and the meal prepared for them wasn't enough for her big appetite. Kou and Kairon were already close at that time so Kairon would have one of his servants send treats for Kou every week.
'I–I asked him for some, honest!'
Basil snatched the biscuit from Soleil's hands, rubbing his knuckles against her forehead that left a red and angry bruise.
'O—OW! WAAAAAAH!!!'
The serpent, who still wasn't as gigantic at that time and had the height of an average adult despite being a child, huffed. "Yeah, cry, that's the only thing you're good at anyway."
'What's going on?'
Kou entered the room, glancing at Soleil's crouched form.
'She is stealing from you. I only told her off.'
Kou sighed, bending down and taking Soleil into his arms. 'Don't make her cry again, Basil.'
He grabbed another biscuit from the container and slipped it into Soleil's mouth.
Basil crossed his arms, glaring at the smaller figures. 'Why are you giving the things the prince gifted to you? That's just ungrateful!'
Soleil stuck out her tongue at him, agitating the snake even further.
'The prince told Kou to share it with friends.'
'You have no friends here, ya know?'
Kou chuckled, petting Soleil's head. 'Everyone here is Kou's friend, even you, Basil. So don't make Soleil cry anymore, okay?'
Basil's hold on Soleil's statue loosened as if he was afraid that he would be hurting her.
"I can't kill you, no viel can. In order to win this game, it's either I follow you or you die, isn't it?"
"The way I can see it, you only have one feasible option."
Basil's jaw stretched in an absurd length, slipping the statue in his mouth.
Belladonna giggled in content. It was Boota's turn to get swallowed by this gluttonous snake. She would command Basil around until there was no one left.
"Now then—"
Something sharp pierced in her back. She glanced at Basil with a disappointed smirk.
"Basil, how many times do I have to repeat it for your incompetent brain to understand? You can't kill me."
"But I can."
Karma withdrew his hand that was bladed with purple light. "Boo."