Aight, it took a while, but this chap's finally done. The chapter is 3,050 words or so, without the longass authors notes.
Anyhow, if you have any questions (sometimes I forget to explain things properly because they're explained in my brain) about literally anything, ask in the comments, or message me (on wattpad or otherwise) because I get A LOT of comment notifs daily and might not see them until later. Or they might be buried under the mountains. So like, yeah.
Happy reading, hehehe~~
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I let out a quiet groan as I sat up in bed, pain racking throughout my entire body. "Everything hurts-" I winced, rolling out of the bed and standing to my feet while I rubbed my eyes tiredly. "Urgh-" I cringed as I stopped at the doorway, remembering my demon's disguise. "Do I walk all the way across the room to grab it and suffer all the while?" I muttered to myself. "Or do I risk being brutally murdered by a demon who wants to literally eat my ass. And my brain."
A few minutes later I walked down the hall, mask properly secured to my face, my cloak covering my unnatural light-coloured hair- an even more unusual colour for a demon. Though it was rare to come across other demons in this area of the castle, thanks to my demon pals- one of which is a queen, there were very few in the area. Alas, there was still the occasional patrol.
After all, there were still demons who revolted against the leave of humans from their world, and banment on consuming them in the first place. Mujika was doing her best to convince these...rebels... via announcements and reasoning. Sonju occasionally went on missions when the rebels would attack villages in protest- although there's only been two occasions of such.
My eyebrows scrunched together in concern for a moment.'I remember seeing some documents regarding the matter on Mujika's desk. Something about a "group of protestors"?' I hummed, scratching my head. 'Oh well. Neither of the two has mentioned anything about it yet, it's probably no big deal.'
Just as I arrived at the dining room I caught a waft of a familiar and heavenly smell through my mask, my eyes widening in excitement in shock. "Pancakes-?!" I exclaimed, throwing the door open.
In the past year or so of my time in the demon world I'd encountered these demon delicacies a few times- and they were one of the best things I'd ever eaten. Even if I had ever hated pancakes at some point in my life, after eating these pancakes the first time, that became a thing of the past.
I sat at my designated seat and began piling my favourite toppings onto the heavenly breakfast that was set out. After another few minutes passed I sighed, tapping on my demon mask impatiently. "Sonju and Mujika aren't here yet..." I glanced down to the pancakes once more, before shrugging to myself. "Oh well. I'll start without them."
I was about one half of the way through my pancakes, my mask pushed up onto my forehead so my mouth was uncovered, when Sonju and Mujika walked in the room.
Immediately, I knew there was a problem, as I faintly heard their mutters in the demon dialect. 'Could it be the demon rebels-?' I thought to myself as they came within earshot, the Demon queen's incomprehensible murmuring becoming audible. ."The only woman to ever tell you she loves you will be your mom." Mujika spoke in the demon tongue as she pulled out a chair, her usual kind and innocent smile on her face.
I looked up from my pancakes, my mouth stuffed, and blinked, wondering if I'd misheard her. The demon tongue was a fairly new one to me, after all- "Oh wait." Mujika continued, her smile deepening. "Not even she ever told you that."
My jaw hung open, unable to find any words. 'No, I definitely heard her right-' "Oh, Y/N." The demon woman acknowledged my existence in the human language and I froze. "Sorry for being late. I'm glad you started without us." She spoke quickly as she sat down, before turning to Sonju, who continued their...conversation... in their first language.
"Well, at least I didn't have direct involvement in my entire family and anyone I ever interacted with being tortured and eaten." The demon man responded simply, and I began to wonder if they knew I spoke the language, based on his nonchalant expression he masked his deadly words with. "Oh, could you pass me the syrup?" He suddenly switched to the human language, speaking in an innocent voice. Mujika nodded and slid down the syrup.
"At least my family members, and the ones not even related to me, loved me till their final breath. On the contrary, didn't all of yours hate you till the minute they passed?" The demon queen responded in the language she thought I still couldn't understand. "Oh, Sonju, would you pass the strawberries over?" She switched back to the human language once again, Sonju silently sliding the strawberries over, before a sh*t-eating grin spread over his face.
"At least I'm not a virgin-"
I sputtered, choking on my food from his comment, standing up so fast I sent my chair clattering to the floor, despite it's demon-size and weight.
"Y/N?" Mujika asked in the human tongue worriedly. "Are you okay?"
Very much trying to forget about what I just unintentionally overheard I nodded, trying to avoid stuttering on my words. "Yeah- yep. I'm good, mhm. Just...uh... remembered I need to go meet up with X. He'll get mad at me if I don't visit soon." I nodded and quickly, and very stiffly walked out of the room, heading towards my own.
"...She didn't finish her pancakes-" Sonju observed my unusually filled plate after a few moments passed.
"You don't think..." Mujika's smile didn't falter, although there was a dangerous tone to her voice. "...She's learned the demon tongue...right?"
I felt a dangerous chill run down my spine as I opened the door to my room.
With a nervous shudder I crouched down and pulled out one of the jars of golden water from underneath. Then, opening my dresser drawer I cringed at the low stock of Vida flowers. "I'll have to get more soon..." I grumbled, before gently cutting my hand with a disinfected knife, where a still-unhealed scab from drawing blood always lay.
I then leaned back and waited as the vida flower drew up my blood into it's system. The crimson liquid was the bare minimum amount required to make one bloom, as one learned after a year or so of visiting the son of a b*tch every week or so. As soon as the white flowers turned red and bloomed, I found myself in the midst of everywhere and nowhere, staring up at the bright blew sky, a few fluffy clouds up above.
Although the first few times I visited X after leaving Gracefield I had to recross the seven walls- which was often filled with oddly traumatizing thoughts-, I apparently began becoming a... "recognized being" of this dimension, and was thus able to cross by easily.
Which also, apparently, enabled X to call me here on will. Although that seemed to take a lot out of him, so it was a rare occurrence, fortunately for myself, as it often left me dizzy, drowsy, and disoriented.
"So? What'll it be today?" I asked to the only being nearby, although he wasn't in my line of sight, watching the clouds float listlessly above as I raised my eyebrows. "Chess? Monopoly? Charades? Go fish? Drop-Y/N-off-the-all-seeing-dragon?"
"No." The voice of X hummed as he appeared above me. "-although that last option is always fun." The demon finished with a small giggle.
"For you, maybe." I grumbled, sitting up and turning towards the creature. "So? What's the plan, then?"
"Well..." The one chuckled childishly, sitting across from me. "My next plan..." He spoke, leaning forwards in anticipation. "is going to be... a 'girls night'!!"
I froze. "A... what?" He didn't elaborate, and seeing as he had dissolved into a a fit of giggles, he was unable to. "D-did you just say 'girls night'?" I asked for confirmation, more-than-a-litte...confused.
X stopped laughing with a sharp nod. "Of course!" The demon jumped up from his floating-seated position, his form turning younger and younger with each passing second. "I've always been fascinated by this concept of this thing called a 'girls night' back in the human world! It's something I have yet to understand! Why they giggle over conversations of ones they fantasize about! Why they perform demonic rituals while using small, sparkly paintbrushes on their talons! Sleep together to as if preserving body-warmth even in a well-heated dwelling! When there's a bed in the same room, even!"
I blinked. "You mean... like a sleep-over?"
The childish creature nodded frantically. "Precisely!"
"I-" I stuttered, not quite understanding.
"Is the problem my gender?" X asked, standing up. "I'll have you know, gender is a fickle thing to demons." I tilted my head at his random interjection. Certainly, I'd noticed that demons avoided using gender when identifying one another- when learning the language, I even learned there were no gender-specific identifications in the first place... "After all, the gender identity of the humans we eat affects our own!" X finished.
I snapped up to him, broken out of my train of thought. "You- what?"
"Because we typically take the forms and intelligence of the creatures we eat, the gender identity of a human typically transfers as well! Although our own personal preference plays a part." X tapped his chin with a hum. "Although most demons don't care about gender anyway. Most demons are are... what's the word in "human" terms... genderfluid or nonbinary. There are always select few who identify strongly with a specific gender." The demon shook his head in pity. "Hard times for those, it was. -before that evil-blooded girl's blood. After all, there was no way to tell the gender identity of a human from the outside. So it was practically impossible for a lesser-demon to maintain their preferred gender identity and body."
I listened in mild fascination, despite the lack of warning behind the lecture. "I didn't know that..." I muttered in awe, covering my mouth with my hand.
"And even then," X continued, "After hearing the effects of the evil-blooded girl's blood, many of the genderfluid demons revolted, for fear they would be stuck in one gender. Although it turns out the girls blood still allows them to shift easily. It provided as relief for the single-gendered demons who are often forced into an opposite-gendered body simply because of the food they eat. After all, they became able to stay in whatever gendered-body they wanted."
"I see..." I murmured. "Wait, although that was good to know, what does that have anything to do with in this conversation??"
The one giggled. "Well, Y/N, if you were worried about gender affecting the girls night, I'm not a being who is restricted by gender. Although I typically don't have one, I'm capable of shifting between them. Like so.-"
"Wait-" I stuttered. "Then I've been misgendering you this whole time???!" I jaw-dropped in both apology, and simply being appalled by the revelation. "And that's why demons only ever refer to you by name or as 'The one'- although they don't have gender identifiers in their native language anyway, so I just assumed it was that-"
"Oh, don't worry." X waved my concern away dismissively. "I go by all...what's the word... pronouns? Unless I tell you otherwise, I don't have a preference between them."
I relaxed a little, but my cheeks remained puffed out. "Still..."
"Oh, Y/N." X clicked his tongue. "Just watch. I want to show you this."
I raised my eyebrows as the one changed slightly as he aged as well, his figure changing to be more feminine, locks of shiny white hair- which was unexpected- sprouting from beneath his- or her, now- mask. "See?" X's voice was slightly higher now, and Tjje one now resembled a female demon of around my age. "There's no problem now, right?"
I groaned slightly internally. "Well- Gender isn't even the problem-" I attempted to find a good excuse from the...situation... The One had proposed. "-wouldn't it be awkward, just the two of us??" I tried to argue, unaware of how how badly this point would backfire on myself in the near future. "Sleepovers are supposed to have more people, after all-"
X hummed in thought. "That's a good point, I suppose..." The now- female-deity then brightened suddenly. "I know~! What about the evil blooded girl-!!"
I cringed at the thought of involving poor, poor, Mujika, who was busy enough without this nuisance in her life. "...She's really busy with like... politics and stuff, you know-?"
X sighed in disappointment, and I felt my nerves relax, but only for a moment. "Hehehe~~" She suddenly started giggling, and I swallowed nervously. "Y/N, you've been out and around the capital, right?"
I slowly nodded in nervous anticipation. Besides the times X decided to drop me off in the middle of nowhere, I'd travelled through the capital a few times on curiosity as well as passing through with Mujika and/or Sonju.
"Then you must've met a few demon girls!"
I froze once again, very much not liking the idea of where this conversation was going. Although I'd passed through the capital a few times as mentioned, there was no way I knew anyone specifically. "No, actually-"
The demon deity continued smiling, though, leaning closer to my face in excitement with each passing moment. "Then you'll go meet some, right?"
I swallowed, running out of counters. "Well, I mean- just for the sake of a sleepover-??"
X nodded. "Of course? ...can you not?"
I chewed on the inside of my lip. 'In order for my plans to work... I need to gain the favour of X... so...' "Yeah." I nodded, also unaware of how much I would regret this decision. "Of course."
"Excellent!!" The deity exclaimed excitedly, clapping her hands together. "Then, I'll see you in a little while! We'll have the sleepover a shortly after that, to give you some time to make friends!"
"Friends- who said anything about fr-" I then woke up on the floor of my bedroom, the clear sky from everywhere and nowhere replaced with beige, fancily-decorated ceiling commonly used throughout the castle. "Okay, then..." I muttered, sitting up, my lip wrinkling in distaste. "I guess I'll just go..." I paused, as if I disliked the taste of the words I was about to speak"...make some friends?"
I walked towards the castle gate, briefly passing by Sonju's office- although "man cave" is probably a better description. "You heading out?" Sonju's voice echoed from inside. I walked backwards a few paces and poked my head in the door.
"Yeah." I responded, glancing at the sky outside, which led me to believe it was about 10:00 AM. "-I'll be gone a while." '...if all goes well...'
Sonju hummed, raising his eyebrows. "If you won't be training today, I'll be putting you through hell tomorrow."
I puffed out my cheeks in disappointment. "Whyyyy everything hurts like a buttcheek on a stickkk-"
"That's a good thing, though." Sonju quipped with a short shrug.
I pursed my lips. "I know. But it's not fun. It's like period cramps, but all over your body, every time you move-"
"Okay, then don't train, and get murdered by my older brother. See if I care."
I stared at the piece-of-sh*t for a minute before responding. "...You know it's your own fault I have to fight him, right." I crossed my arms angrily, leaning against the doorframe.
Sonju paused for a moment, flipping quietly through documents. "...I thought it might be a good distraction." He muttered lamely.
"A distraction?" I hummed. "I don't think I need one. -But that's besides the point." I turned to the demon, mildly appalled. "In what way is tempting death a good distraction?"
Sonju raised an eyebrow. "I'd say it's a pretty good one. Besides. You're grateful for it, aren't you?" My fingers twitched, although no sign of my flight-or-fight response triggering was shown on my face. "You're right. You don't need a distraction. You want one."
"Why would I want a distraction?" I asked, genuinely curious, although some part of me was screaming to walk away right then and there.
The demon's eyes trailed to mine, peering at me through his mask. "When was the last time you thought of them?" He asked, a chill growing in my stomach. "For real." When I was unable to offer any response, Sonju stood up from his desk. "Y/N... you're ignoring them. But... if you're still trying to get back... why is that?" He asked. My heart rate picked up, beginning to feel like a caged animal as the demon confronted me. "Are you sure... you haven't actually given up already...? Have you not already resigned to stay here?"
My eyes snapped up to his, my expression angry. "Of course not." I growled. "You know that."
"Do I?" Sonju asked. My jaw clenched in anger. "Tell me, Y/N. In the past year, what have you actually done?"
I swallowed angrily. "You know I've been trying-"
"-Trying to get closer to X? Researching for other ways to cross over in the library? Sure. You've been doing that. But is it really with the goal of seeing them? Do you really have a plan? One that you're actually positive will work, like all of your other ones of the past?" I was unable to find the words I wanted to speak- perhaps because I could find none. "Y/N, I can't see into your mind. Maybe you do have some big plan forming in that brain of yours. But yesterday, when I mentioned those two's names, you didn't even react. That's not normal."
"-You did that on purpose?" I asked, fixating on his comment, perhaps in a subconscious attempt to redirect the flow of conversation.
"Yeah." Sonju nodded. "Sorry." He quickly apologized, although he didn't seem sorry at all. "-But you used the words 'useful comparison', didn't you? So... did you ever even think about them -in comparison or otherwise- after that?" There was a long pause in his words as he watched me, the silence more deafening than any other sound I'd ever heard."...That expression tells me you didn't. Y/N, I'm not going to force you to change your coping mechanism. But don't lie to yourself anymore. And if I were in the position of your family, I certainly wouldn't want to be forgotten."
I stared blankly at Sonju for a moment before turning away from him and leaving the room, moving straight towards the castle entrance.
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So, things are finally picking up speed. I've mostly figured out the plot, although I still have a few ideas I'm choosing whether are... y'know... something that would be reasonable/enjoyable in the book?
Anyhow. Pretty exited for the plan I have that I'm beginning to execute. It starts for real next chapter, although you won't understand why till...later...
MWAHAHAH FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T KNOW ALREADY, I'VE GOT A LOT MORE PLANNED. A WHOLE ARC BLOOMING IN MY BRAIN. EVEN THOUGH I PLANNED TO HAVE THE BOOK BE ENDED LIKE 2 CHAPS AGO OR SMTH. BAHAHAHAHA.
-And have fun living with the cliffhanger from last chapter until it's the...appropriate time...to explain everything further :))) (that's an evil smile, by the way. It has no soul.)
ILY'ALL, HAHAHAHAHA, AND MY POOR BABY Y/N I JUST WANNA GIVE HER A HUG -AND MAYBE GIVE SONJU A SMACK UPSIDE THE HEAD OR TWO.
He is only being a d*ck because he cares, at least.
A d*ck is still a d*ck, though, and I say he deserves it.
Also god knows why I decided that Mujika has Norman vibes. There is no explaining how someone can be so constantly kind, unless they're only comfortable being...scary...around a few select people. For instance, Norman being a SCARY MOFO but a sweet and precious little boy around Emma.
...You get it.
And we don't talk about Sonju's "at least I'm not a virgin" comment. I know at least one of you are curious. No, I will not elaborate. Suffer.
..Preferably in silence.
OH SH*T WAIT I JUST REMEMBERED ABOUT ALL OF MY MALE Y/N DRAWINGS- wait, that's for the future, when the oneshot actually happens.
...
LMFAO BYE ILY BEBS