I'm The Villain

The Man and the Demon

"Steady now." Honey held down the boat, preventing it from rocking as they got off.

Afterwards, he pushed it off.

"Welcome, officially, to the outside world! Beyond you home, beyond the islands and beyond that fog! Feast yourselves on the magnificent sight, the blue skies and beautiful scape!" Honey declared.

"Woah..." Ash and Nadia stared at the world before them, new perspectives forming.

"Come on now, we'll get to the nearest town soon." Elliot smiled gently, jutting her head to the side.

"Nn!"

As they walked, Ash and Nadia realised something.

There were wagons littered on the road, all seemingly old and crooked.

It was not just once every few hours but several littered nearly every few kilometres,"Mum...Why are there so many wagons?"

Elliot's smile dampened a little,"It's...Nothing. Just accidents happen quite often along these roads. It's pretty common actually, with people not concentrating."

"Your mother's right. The place used to be a forest, littered with trees. Filled with thieves and all sorts of monsters. Nowadays, it's pretty barren, nearly devoid of life." Honey said quietly, slowly whistling a tune to fill the silence.

Ash frowned internally, knowing his parents were hiding something from him.

As to what exactly it was, he couldn't tell.

He didn't want to know, either way, despite how enticing it sounded.

Everything his parents had done were with his best interests at heart, and seeing mum's smile go away even for a moment made him feel slightly down.

If talking about it would make her sad, he'd rather not ask.

"Y'know. This reminds me of a story."

Their ears perked, intrigued every time Honey said something.

To them, his stories were legendary, their eyes fixated to Honey who slowed down his pace to match theirs, letting Elliot lead.

"A long, long time ago, there were five people. They were all loyal to another person. A devil. She was the most ravishing woman, her looks, deadly. Femme Fatale as the Avroxians put it. She was a peaceful person, ruling over her kingdom as a benevolent ruler. She gave the people jobs, money, entertainment and a place to call home and nearly every thing they wished."

Honey let out a shaky breath,"But then, the humans turned against her."

"What? Why?" Nadia frowned.

"Because she was a demon."

"That...Doesn't make sense." Ash was discountenanced by his dad's statement,"She was treating them so well...Why would they?"

"You've read old stories, haven't you? Those books we bring back from out adventures." Honey chuckled,"The princess is always the damsel, the knight in shining armour is always the hero, and the dragon or demon king is always the evil lord."

"But! She isn't evil!"

"But she was a demon. And this man. This one man used this factor and turned the world against her. She tried to advocate peace, to stop war...But those five people...They wouldn't listen. They convinced her, day and night until one day, she gave in. And she finally waged war."

"The man used this to his advantage, spinning tall tales of inhumane acts behind the queen's walls and garnered more support. She waged battles in hope of ending them, yet angered more people."

"Why did the people help that man? He's obviously bad!"

"Ah, but most people, they believe what they hear. Aren't you choosing to believe my story now? And that man, he was a knight. A knight in shining armour. It's just that his heart and morals weren't as shining as his armour."

"..."

"This man he...He became this hero the people looked up to, using the demon as a scapegoat. Even when she surrendered, he continued. And the people they, they ignored her cries to stop. They killed off the people that stood with her until she chose to give herself up."

"But...She didn't deserve it!"

"That's exactly what her followers thought." Honey said with a wavering voice,"The most fanatic one, led the five of them on a quest of genocide. To right the wrongs done to her. But that man arrived. He nearly destroyed them. But she...She ran in. Ran in and took the hit, destroying all her hearts. She said in her final moments that her dying was better than seeing her followers-the one who caused her death-die."

"...So that man won?" Nadia spat out,"How is that fair?"

"Oh that man? That man died a hero. He passed away peacefully at the age of two hundred with ten wives and fifty children. He built an empire and was revered as the demon slayer. And no one questioned it."

Ash and Nadia felt some sort of discontent, as if part of the story was missing,"Wait. That's it?"

Honey shook his head,"Oh no. Not at all."

"What happened next then?"

Honey shrugged,"I don't know."

"What? You just said the story wasn't over. What do you mean you don't know?!" Ash yelled, agitated.

"The story is taking place, right now, in this very instant. It's just that the characters are much, much different."

Ash scowled,"Oh." He felt that his dad knew more than he let on.

But fighting with a stubborn man like him was like a phrase he had learnt from his mum: Playing piano to a cow. (A/N: It's a famous Chinese phrase)

But still, that sour feeling of discontent lingered.

How was it righteous?

"So tell me, who's the good guy?"

"Duh. It's the demon."

"But the people believed in the man more. If the demon was a good guy, why didn't they side with her during those wars?"

Ash opened his mouth, but no retort came out.

He didn't have a point to refute his dad,"That's because...Because...Then maybe the hero's the good guy!"

"But the hero killed millions of people because he wanted to. He built his kingdom on an empire of lies, trickery and manipulation. Can he really be the good guy?"

"Then I don't know! Who's the good guy then, huh?"

"No one is." Honey replied simply.

"What?..." Nadia furrowed her brows in confusion,"What do you mean?"

"The demon was weak, though I couldn't blame her. She had power but didn't want to fight back. She didn't have the heart to. She...She thought of humans as equal while humans thought her below themselves. That kind of selflessness...Is selfish. But the hero, though seemingly bad...May have been sparked by something else. Maybe a bad experience from demons. We can't always blame a man for the evil things because he has only greed in his mind."

"Some times, it's better to forgive and forget...Though oftentimes, it's much harder to do than to say." Honey's voice sounded weathered, as if he was reminiscing.

Elliot was quiet, her emotions unclear to Honey.