From the Vault: Beast World. Like so much of it.
Every writer has a vault of abandoned projects, practice documents, and half formed ideas. Loose scenes and interesting dreams they wrote out so they don't forget the ideas. I've decided I'm going to be sharing mine instead of letting it rot.
This is one of my favorites. It was a fever dream, I'd been watching a lot of fantasy dramas at the time, and once I started I just kind of kept going. I have taken some of it out because it was LONG and I might need to dip into this brain dump for another post one day. It's not lazy, it's taking advantage of the resources I have.
Enjoy the brain dump of the story I like to call Beast World (and please suggest better titles).
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Purely out of my boredom I decided to test something. I picked up a tiny cup from the tea set on a table, and threw it out the open window. It went through, even though I’d bounced back when I tried jumping out. Interesting, what else would go through?
‘What do you think you are doing?” The immortal who was now housing me appeared in white smoke. He shook his head a little and continued, “There is an unthinkable mess outside!”
“It’s interesting to know that a table can go out the window when I can’t, though.”
Hands clenching, the immortal grumbled, “If you want a mess I’ll make you one.”
“I’m already a mess, how else did I end up imprisoned by you?”
Disbelief widened the guy’s eyes. “How did you know what I said there?” Wait, why wouldn’t I understand him, he’d never stopped speaking English. “I can see you understanding the demon language, you’ve been living with a demon, but not the tongue of Heaven.”
Something fishy was going on, but if he really wasn’t speaking English there was a way to test it. “Come here and say something slowly.”
The guy had a similar idea, or saw where I was going with it, because he pulled my face near his and said, oh so frustratingly slowly, “The sky’s water has fallen, and autumn clouds are thin. The western wind has blown ten thousand miles.” His mouth was making different shapes than I was hearing.
“It’s interesting to know that a table can go out the window when I can’t, though.”
Hands clenching, the immortal grumbled, “If you want a mess I’ll make you one.”
“I’m already a mess, how else did I end up imprisoned by you?”
Disbelief widened the guy’s eyes. “How did you know what I said there?” Wait, why wouldn’t I understand him, he’d never stopped speaking English. “I can see you understanding the demon language, you’ve been living with a demon, but not the tongue of Heaven.”
Something fishy was going on, but if he really wasn’t speaking English there was a way to test it. “Come here and say something slowly.”
The guy had a similar idea, or saw where I was going with it, because he pulled my face near his and said, oh so frustratingly slowly, “The sky’s water has fallen, and autumn clouds are thin. The western wind has blown ten thousand miles.” His mouth was making different shapes than I was hearing.
“I was right!” I wasn’t sure how, but he was speaking a different language and I was hearing English.
The immortal looked horrified. He dropped my face and took a shaky step back. “So you could understand us when we were trying to figure out where to keep you?” I suddenly remembered he’d suggested beheading me.
“Yes.”
“You can’t have, you’re just a mortal.” Just a mortal? You’d think he saw mortals as insects or something. “You have shown strange abilities before though…” His expression when his voice trailed off concerned me, it was similar to the face of the guy who tried to murder me for rejecting him.
Suddenly, the man spun and shot a green light at me. My instincts took over and I threw an arm over my face and took as firm a stance as I could. When the light hit, a blue light similar to the one I’d made in the forest appeared like a shield around me.
“Maybe you aren’t just a mortal after all.” He made a few hand signs and glowing bindings appeared around me, pulling my legs and arms in and making me fall to the ground. “I have to report this to our king.”
With another wave of his arms, the room disappeared and was replaced with an enormous hall of some sort, with intricately carved pillars and reflective stone everything. I could see gold images inlay on the ceiling of people doing various things, mostly battle scenes. It was glittering enough to give me a headache. A soldier approached the guy who brought me here.
“The king is in a meeting, why do you teleport here?” She sounded very official.
The man motioned at me and said, “This prisoner was thought to be a mortal but has magical power. She also lacks an immortal soul, making such abilities impossible.”
The soldier bowed then went through a grand doorway, moving through it like it wasn’t there. Moments later she came back out and the doors opened, revealing what looked to me like a throne room. In the fashion of what I’d seen of the Holy realm, it’s opulence was disgusting.
I was dragged into the throne room. A booming voice, not fitting the slim man it came from, echoed through the chamber and said, “I hear this mortal is strange in unexplainable ways, Bailey.” So that was my captor’s name was. Bailey. “Explain to me your evidence.”
Bailey bowed, his hands in front of him. “When we were in the Haunted Forest, she used a magic attack. She has also created a magic shield and is able to understand our language without actually knowing it.” He lifted out of the bow. “I have not been able to sense an immortal soul or any signs of cultivation. It seems to be innate within her.”
“Do you suspect interference,” boomed the king. It was more of an accusation than a question, I thought.
Glancing over his shoulder at me, Bailey answered, “None that I’ve observed, though she has spent time in the Demon realm. She was living with the bear we’ve been tracking.”
The king looked me over. If I could have moved I’d’ve given him something to look at, but I mentally flipped him off to try and make up for the lost opportunity. “Has her spirit been examined?”
“Not yet,” Bailey answered. “I thought it might be best if you checked yourself.”
With a nod, the king stood and took several determined steps towards me. When I hissed at him he paused.
“She does that to seem intimidating, I think. She did that as we were bringing her here, any time someone looked directly at her.”
Even with the explanation, the king was much more guarded. He held out two fingers and lightly touched my forehead. Nothing happened, but it was clear he’d expected something to. Pulling his fingers back, the king took in a deep breath and tried again. Again, nothing happened.
Some guards murmured around us, clearly something was wrong with me. The king muttered something under his breath as well. I wished I could have heard it. Louder, he said, “You seem to have no spirit. I wonder if you have no destiny either.”
My bindings were waved at, vanishing from my body, and the king returned to his throne. I stood and tried to voice my disapproval of this whole setup. I was unable to speak.
“I see you dislike not being able to make whatever crude comments enter your mind,” the king commented. “I dislike having those in my realm who defy the laws of Heaven, even if it is solely in their existence.” This didn’t sound good. He turned to a guard posted to the side of his chair. “Is the God of Fate still on his meditative journey?”
The guard bowed, “He is, and may not be revived safely until it is completed.” Revived? Meditative journey? What was this, spiritualists gone bourgeoise?
Bailey interrupted my thoughts by saying, “If it pleases your Majesty, she can continue to be confined to my palace. I can observe her confinement while planning our next steps in our hunt for the Blood Beast.” It was good to know Pace made it out safely.
With a nod, the king gave his approval for the plan. A wave of his hand, Bailey and I were transported directly in front of Bailey’s palace. It was a mess of pillows, cups, even tables and chairs. I guess I really had made a mess from my window. Who knew it faced the front of the palace.
“You will clean this up before I return you to your room.”
“I will enjoy the grass and the sun, might even set up a little tent to sleep in. I threw out enough stuff.” I was so glad I could speak again. I’d have to figure out how to stop the silencing spell I kept getting thrown at me.
Bailey’s expression just oozed aggravation. “If you don’t learn obedience, you’ll find yourself in a much different living arrangement.”
Deciding to brush it off as an idle threat, I started pulling things around the yard to make a little blanket fort. “As long as I have company or things to entertain myself, I don’t mind where I am.” He grunted and spun towards his front door.
Before he reached his door, Bailey had an idea. He turned back towards me and made some hand signs. Everything in the yard vanished in a puff of smoke, and he smiled. “Good luck building a tent when you can’t see your supplies.”
Not sure what my plan was, but when I went to stomp over to Bailey, I tripped over something. He’d made everything in the yard invisible!
“Good luck, night will be falling soon and it might rain.” He went inside.
The first thing I did once he was out of sight was to book it away from the building. I didn’t make it far before I hit a barrier. “Guess I’m building an invisible blanket fort,” I whispered.
It took some doing, and a lot of guessing what I was holding, but I managed to get an invisible little shelter of sorts set up. I think. I couldn’t feel the breeze in it anyway, and I’d found what felt like a blanket and a couple of pillows.
Twice I’d actually lost where I’d started putting things together. I wondered what the yard would look like if everything were made visible again. At the first sounds of rainfall, I found out.
Mismatched chairs holding up what turned out to be a tapestry became visible. Through the gap by the ground, I saw both the half-formed forts and a set of boots approaching. “Mortal, are you so determined to be outside you really intend to sleep out here?” It was Bailey.
“I’m sure your house is nice, but I’m also sure I prefer the company of furniture to you.” Besides, it wasn’t easy to set this up when I couldn’t see what I was doing.
I heard an annoyed little sigh. “You might know that you wouldn’t be forced to spend time in my presence, I dislike you as well.” Good, I thought. “Come out and I’ll take you inside.” No, I would rather stay here and hope the tapestry wouldn’t drip on me while I slept. “Mortal.”
With an eye roll I said, “My name isn’t Mortal, it’s Opaline, and you made it clear that I can’t go inside until I clean up my mess.”
Everything around me vanished, and I felt the rain and a soft wind. It was actually gone. “Your mess is taken care of, please come inside. I can’t risk you getting sick.” How touching, I thought sarcastically, he wants a healthy little prisoner. “Opaline, please.”
“Bailey, no.” I looked around until I saw the window leading to the room I was in before. Sure enough, everything was back in its place. I wondered if the spell that kept me in was still there, and if it would keep me from entering through the window. “I have another idea, anyway.” I was planning on approaching the window when I got to my feet, but he had other thoughts.
My wrist was grabbed before I could step towards the window and I was pulled into him. Then I was lifted and thrown over his shoulder. “If you’re going to be difficult, I will have to adjust my tactics.”
The immortal looked horrified. He dropped my face and took a shaky step back. “So you could understand us when we were trying to figure out where to keep you?” I suddenly remembered he’d suggested beheading me.
“Yes.”
“You can’t have, you’re just a mortal.” Just a mortal? You’d think he saw mortals as insects or something. “You have shown strange abilities before though…” His expression when his voice trailed off concerned me, it was similar to the face of the guy who tried to murder me for rejecting him.
Suddenly, the man spun and shot a green light at me. My instincts took over and I threw an arm over my face and took as firm a stance as I could. When the light hit, a blue light similar to the one I’d made in the forest appeared like a shield around me.
“Maybe you aren’t just a mortal after all.” He made a few hand signs and glowing bindings appeared around me, pulling my legs and arms in and making me fall to the ground. “I have to report this to our king.”
With another wave of his arms, the room disappeared and was replaced with an enormous hall of some sort, with intricately carved pillars and reflective stone everything. I could see gold images inlay on the ceiling of people doing various things, mostly battle scenes. It was glittering enough to give me a headache. A soldier approached the guy who brought me here.
“The king is in a meeting, why do you teleport here?” She sounded very official.
The man motioned at me and said, “This prisoner was thought to be a mortal but has magical power. She also lacks an immortal soul, making such abilities impossible.”
The soldier bowed then went through a grand doorway, moving through it like it wasn’t there. Moments later she came back out and the doors opened, revealing what looked to me like a throne room. In the fashion of what I’d seen of the Holy realm, it’s opulence was disgusting.
I was dragged into the throne room. A booming voice, not fitting the slim man it came from, echoed through the chamber and said, “I hear this mortal is strange in unexplainable ways, Bailey.” So that was my captor’s name was. Bailey. “Explain to me your evidence.”
Bailey bowed, his hands in front of him. “When we were in the Haunted Forest, she used a magic attack. She has also created a magic shield and is able to understand our language without actually knowing it.” He lifted out of the bow. “I have not been able to sense an immortal soul or any signs of cultivation. It seems to be innate within her.”
“Do you suspect interference,” boomed the king. It was more of an accusation than a question, I thought.
Glancing over his shoulder at me, Bailey answered, “None that I’ve observed, though she has spent time in the Demon realm. She was living with the bear we’ve been tracking.”
The king looked me over. If I could have moved I’d’ve given him something to look at, but I mentally flipped him off to try and make up for the lost opportunity. “Has her spirit been examined?”
“Not yet,” Bailey answered. “I thought it might be best if you checked yourself.”
With a nod, the king stood and took several determined steps towards me. When I hissed at him he paused.
“She does that to seem intimidating, I think. She did that as we were bringing her here, any time someone looked directly at her.”
Even with the explanation, the king was much more guarded. He held out two fingers and lightly touched my forehead. Nothing happened, but it was clear he’d expected something to. Pulling his fingers back, the king took in a deep breath and tried again. Again, nothing happened.
Some guards murmured around us, clearly something was wrong with me. The king muttered something under his breath as well. I wished I could have heard it. Louder, he said, “You seem to have no spirit. I wonder if you have no destiny either.”
My bindings were waved at, vanishing from my body, and the king returned to his throne. I stood and tried to voice my disapproval of this whole setup. I was unable to speak.
“I see you dislike not being able to make whatever crude comments enter your mind,” the king commented. “I dislike having those in my realm who defy the laws of Heaven, even if it is solely in their existence.” This didn’t sound good. He turned to a guard posted to the side of his chair. “Is the God of Fate still on his meditative journey?”
The guard bowed, “He is, and may not be revived safely until it is completed.” Revived? Meditative journey? What was this, spiritualists gone bourgeoise?
Bailey interrupted my thoughts by saying, “If it pleases your Majesty, she can continue to be confined to my palace. I can observe her confinement while planning our next steps in our hunt for the Blood Beast.” It was good to know Pace made it out safely.
With a nod, the king gave his approval for the plan. A wave of his hand, Bailey and I were transported directly in front of Bailey’s palace. It was a mess of pillows, cups, even tables and chairs. I guess I really had made a mess from my window. Who knew it faced the front of the palace.
“You will clean this up before I return you to your room.”
“I will enjoy the grass and the sun, might even set up a little tent to sleep in. I threw out enough stuff.” I was so glad I could speak again. I’d have to figure out how to stop the silencing spell I kept getting thrown at me.
Bailey’s expression just oozed aggravation. “If you don’t learn obedience, you’ll find yourself in a much different living arrangement.”
Deciding to brush it off as an idle threat, I started pulling things around the yard to make a little blanket fort. “As long as I have company or things to entertain myself, I don’t mind where I am.” He grunted and spun towards his front door.
Before he reached his door, Bailey had an idea. He turned back towards me and made some hand signs. Everything in the yard vanished in a puff of smoke, and he smiled. “Good luck building a tent when you can’t see your supplies.”
Not sure what my plan was, but when I went to stomp over to Bailey, I tripped over something. He’d made everything in the yard invisible!
“Good luck, night will be falling soon and it might rain.” He went inside.
The first thing I did once he was out of sight was to book it away from the building. I didn’t make it far before I hit a barrier. “Guess I’m building an invisible blanket fort,” I whispered.
It took some doing, and a lot of guessing what I was holding, but I managed to get an invisible little shelter of sorts set up. I think. I couldn’t feel the breeze in it anyway, and I’d found what felt like a blanket and a couple of pillows.
Twice I’d actually lost where I’d started putting things together. I wondered what the yard would look like if everything were made visible again. At the first sounds of rainfall, I found out.
Mismatched chairs holding up what turned out to be a tapestry became visible. Through the gap by the ground, I saw both the half-formed forts and a set of boots approaching. “Mortal, are you so determined to be outside you really intend to sleep out here?” It was Bailey.
“I’m sure your house is nice, but I’m also sure I prefer the company of furniture to you.” Besides, it wasn’t easy to set this up when I couldn’t see what I was doing.
I heard an annoyed little sigh. “You might know that you wouldn’t be forced to spend time in my presence, I dislike you as well.” Good, I thought. “Come out and I’ll take you inside.” No, I would rather stay here and hope the tapestry wouldn’t drip on me while I slept. “Mortal.”
With an eye roll I said, “My name isn’t Mortal, it’s Opaline, and you made it clear that I can’t go inside until I clean up my mess.”
Everything around me vanished, and I felt the rain and a soft wind. It was actually gone. “Your mess is taken care of, please come inside. I can’t risk you getting sick.” How touching, I thought sarcastically, he wants a healthy little prisoner. “Opaline, please.”
“Bailey, no.” I looked around until I saw the window leading to the room I was in before. Sure enough, everything was back in its place. I wondered if the spell that kept me in was still there, and if it would keep me from entering through the window. “I have another idea, anyway.” I was planning on approaching the window when I got to my feet, but he had other thoughts.
My wrist was grabbed before I could step towards the window and I was pulled into him. Then I was lifted and thrown over his shoulder. “If you’re going to be difficult, I will have to adjust my tactics.”
“Let me go, you jerk!”
“Stop resisting reason!”
This guy managed to keep ahold of me all the way into the entrance and into a hall, but must have gotten sick of my writhing and kicking because he dropped me. “What the fuck!”
“Do you use such language around your elders in your realm?” Elders? How old fashioned. “It is unacceptable.”
Despite his even tone, there was a glint of something in his eye. “How do you know I’m not an elder myself?” He narrowed his eyes and flared his nostrils. “Or maybe, I just don’t respect you and don’t want to be here.” Especially not when it was the home of someone who wanted to kill Pace.
“Would you like to leave? There are many wonders here that are available for viewing at night.”
“Would I have to go with you?” I stood, finally, and brushed off my pants.
Bailey pulled a bit of carpet lint from my sleeve. “Who else would keep you from running?”
“In that case, I’d rather stay. You’d be too easy to escape from and it wouldn’t be fun.” He sighed, and his face softened. “What?”
Instead of answering, Bailey said, “Come on, your room is this way.”
The next several months, Bailey tested my abilities. He presented me with different languages in spoken and written form, taught me magic forms to see if I could control my abilities, even randomly threw things at me.
What we found out is that I couldn’t understand mortal languages I hadn’t already learned. Immortal languages I could understand when spoken, but not when written. The characters looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t decipher a single word. The discoveries I was most interested in were my magical abilities.
I’d never known I could do spirit magic at all. Bailey explained it to me a little, but it really just seemed more confusing than anything. The only thing that seemed to make sense was that I needed to learn to control it. It could help me escape.
In the mind to accomplish this, I was moving through some forms I’d found drawn in a scroll. I wasn’t sure what kind of magic it was, but it was colored blue like my own magic so I thought it would be a decent bet. Besides, once I’d memorized the positions I found it calming to move through them.
From the doorway, I could feel Bailey watching me. Even with my eyes closed his aura dampened my mood.
“You aren’t doing the transitions right.” Ignoring him, I continued what I was doing. “Really, let me help you.”
I’d heard his voice approaching me, but didn’t expect him to physically correct my form and position. When I opened my eyes, his sleeve was half covering my vision as he adjusted the fingers of a position with my arm raised. I pulled my arms in and spun to degrade him to his face. Instead I found my eyes leveled at the base of Bailey’s neck.
Resting his chin on the top of my head, Bailey asked, “If you didn’t want help, why did you ask for scrolls?” I could feel the words ruffle my hair, but was prevented from stepping away. “I’ll just help you with the forms and leave.”
Trying, and failing, to get out of Bailey’s grip, I said, “I’m sure I can figure it out without you touching me, thank you.” He’d been getting really comfortable lately. Not as comfortable as he was about to get, I realized as he pulled my head up so I was looking at him. The look in his eye was much too warm for my liking.
To my surprise, when he pulled me into a kiss I hated it as much as I thought I would. “Touching isn’t all bad, Opal, and you can’t stay hung up on a beast demon forever.”
I turned my face away from a second kiss. “I can’t develop feelings for someone who’s been keeping me imprisoned either.” A push against Bailey’s chest made him wrap his arms tighter around me. “Where I’m from, this is a crime.” I kept my eyes on a paper that had fallen to the floor.
“How are feelings a crime? Have we not been growing closer over your stay here?”
“No.”
Even as he pulled my face to his again, I kept my eyes off him. “So now you won’t even look at me.” When I didn’t answer, I felt his hand on my back making some of the movements he’d shown me before. I heard the shutters on the window close. “Don’t pretend you hate me. You’ve been less combative, cooperative with our little experiments, even asked me to teach you things.”
“No one else has been around to ask.” It was making me nervous that he was slowly leading me to the bed. I wished the Immortals had the same compulsion demons had to obey my every command.
Bailey lifted me, pulling my legs to either side of his waist. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you look at me differently than you did when we met.”
“You’ve been talking to me about things I have an interest in, giving you a reason to exist for me.”
“That’s not all it is.” We’d made it to the bed and he was setting me down while climbing over me. “I’m going to prove it to you.” I pushed him back, but couldn’t focus enough to give it a magic boost.
A wild, unreasonable idea popped in my head as Bailey pulled my sleeve and exposed my shoulder. Pulling at every idea I had about demons, and hoping this worked as insane as it was, I screamed, “Help me!” In the corner of my eye I saw black smoke. “Help me get out of here!”
I wasn’t sure what demon I’d summoned. Not one I’d seen before, he looked like a normal man except his red eyes and the black and red smoke that seemed to emanate from his skin. All I could have told you from looking at him was that he was strong, and that he wasn’t happy about being summoned.
He did as he was bid, though, throwing Bailey off me and into the wall. He even managed to get me out of the palace before we were surrounded by heavenly soldiers. What a ridiculous name.
The leader of the battalion that stopped us stepped forward. “How did you escape your prison Rei?”
“Someone has impressive summoning skills,” the demon answered. “Maybe she can summon some more of your little pets.”
“All this talking,” I complained. “Can we please move on, I’d like to get back to the demon realm.”
Rei dropped my wrist and cracked his neck. “My pleasure.”
……………
“Well that went well.” I looked around the enchanted pot Rei and I were now imprisoned within. The fact that when we landed in here, he just sighed and sat in a meditation position told me everything I needed to know about this place.
Without moving, Rei said, “You weren’t much help. If anyone should complain it should be me.”
I groaned. “I don’t have much power and can’t control what I do have. Otherwise why would I summon you.”
“You summoned me from this prison I’ve been trapped in for centuries. You have strong magical abilities if anyone does.” Rei opened his eyes to glare at me. “I’d think you’d at least know that much if you knew how to summon an ancient demon.”
I punched the side of the pot, the enchantment sealing us in burning my hand when I made contact. “I don’t know how to summon anything, I just screamed for help and followed my instincts.”
Incredulous, Rei just stared for a moment. When he snapped out of it he said, “You can instinctively access demon magic?” I nodded. “You’re a mortal though.”
“I know what I am, asshole!” I punched the wall again. Then again, and again. The burning from the enchantment hurt, but not as much as knowing I was going to die in a pot and never see Pace again and have to spend every day with this piss example of an ‘ancient’ demon.
Rei, watching with some interest, stood. “Hit it again.”
“What? Why?”
“Just hit it again.”
Bewildered, I did. Then I thought, just for an instant, that I saw what he did. A flicker. I decided to give it a kick, Pace had taught me one that I was decently good at. Backing up, I threw myself into a front flip and brought my heel down as hard as I could. This time, the flicker seemed to show a crack.
“You must be a human after all, holy magic can’t be used against humans. It won’t work.”
That meant… “I can get us out.”
It took what felt like hours, but eventually it stopped burning and the slight orange glow around the pot faded to nothing.
“I think I can finish the job,” Rei said. As he’d watched me dispel the holy seal his smile had been growing, but it turned eerily giddy when he said this. He was scarier than I thought. “Get behind me if you don’t want to become collateral damage.”
His hands went through motions I’d never seen in that order before, building a ball of black and red energy. I could feel it’s destructive power from behind him and shuddered when it hit the wall and it just disintegrated. Rei was not someone I wanted to make an enemy of.
“Let’s go, but I won’t protect you like I did before. That’s how we ended up here in the first place.”
“Then just go to the demon realm. I have something to do first.” I needed to find the tracking talisman. Find was the wrong word, I knew exactly where it was and was just unsure how I’d get it without being caught again.
Rei, obedient as any demon I’d seen since I left the human realm, vanished in a puff of smoke. Without him standing there, I could see an Immortal in the room. Shit.
“Don’t worry,” she said, holding her hands out to show her peaceful intentions. “I’m here to meet you, I find you very interesting.” She held one of her hands out towards me like she wanted to shake it. “I’m the god of destiny, how are you?”
It didn’t seem like she wanted to hurt me, but I wasn’t sure if that meant I could trust her. “I just escaped an enchanted pot that I was only put in because I’m not considered normal. So.”
The goddess laughed. “I see.”
………………
I wasn’t sure what a destiny mark was, but I was sure the scale marks that now covered my arm was unflattering. True to the deal offered, though, the god of destiny sent me back to the Everlasting Forest with the tracking talisman once she’d cast the spell that gave me this ugly mark.
Touching the scales, and the spikes that ran up my forearm, I wondered if I could get these removed. Even as I thought this, they faded like they had never existed. Weird.
It was time to go looking for Pace. Maybe Rei too, since I wanted to thank him for helping me escape. Twice, really. Or maybe he just wanted to be left alone and I’d have to deal with the gratitude and feeling of owing someone on my own.
Under my breath I said, “Rei, if you want me to try and repay the debt you’ll have to find me.”
“You called?” I spun to see Rei, looking just as annoyed as he sounded, behind me in a state of undress I wouldn’t have expected. “I was about to bathe.”
“I can tell.” He pulled his robe back over his torso and tied it. “Why are you here?”
He rolled his eyes and growled. “You summoned me and for some reason I couldn’t ignore it. Stop doing that.”
Oh yeah. “Well, I have things to do. You can do whatever you want.”
“Oh no, you summoned me to repay your debt.” I heard a creaking. The spirits of the forest were moving trees. “Not here though, this place hates me.” He grabbed my wrist and waved his arm, transporting us to a mountain area with a spring. It looked super familiar.
It took a moment, but I remembered where I’d seen this before. “This is too close to a gremlin village for comfort.” Rei threw me a look and untied his robe. “What are you doing?”
“Taking a bath.” So this was where he’d been when I’d accidentally summoned him. Again.
I turned away, I wasn’t about to watch a veritable stranger undress and bathe if I didn’t have to. A large cup was lowered over my head. One with a thick handle and rough sides.
When I didn’t grab the cup, Rei said, “You can start paying me back by washing my hair. It hasn’t been cleaned in centuries.” Nasty, but it seemed appropriate to help considering. I grabbed the cup. “Just don’t touch the water.”
“How am I supposed to wash your hair if I can’t touch the water?”
“That’s your problem.” I heard movement in the water, and when I turned to do as I was asked I saw black and red smoke rising with the steam from the pool. No wonder he didn’t want me to touch the water. His aura was poisoning it. “Get to it, human.”
My eyes narrowed at Rei. “My name is Opaline. Don’t forget it.”
“Yes yes, Opaline, now stop talking and start washing.”
His annoying petulance aside, the hum he made when I poured the first cupful of water over his head was kind of cute. “You called yourself an ancient demon. What does that mean?” He was clearly in a better mood now. It felt safe to ask questions.
Eyes closed, Rei answered, “When the realms were created there were beasts and gods and mortals created with them. I was one of the beasts.”
“Stop resisting reason!”
This guy managed to keep ahold of me all the way into the entrance and into a hall, but must have gotten sick of my writhing and kicking because he dropped me. “What the fuck!”
“Do you use such language around your elders in your realm?” Elders? How old fashioned. “It is unacceptable.”
Despite his even tone, there was a glint of something in his eye. “How do you know I’m not an elder myself?” He narrowed his eyes and flared his nostrils. “Or maybe, I just don’t respect you and don’t want to be here.” Especially not when it was the home of someone who wanted to kill Pace.
“Would you like to leave? There are many wonders here that are available for viewing at night.”
“Would I have to go with you?” I stood, finally, and brushed off my pants.
Bailey pulled a bit of carpet lint from my sleeve. “Who else would keep you from running?”
“In that case, I’d rather stay. You’d be too easy to escape from and it wouldn’t be fun.” He sighed, and his face softened. “What?”
Instead of answering, Bailey said, “Come on, your room is this way.”
The next several months, Bailey tested my abilities. He presented me with different languages in spoken and written form, taught me magic forms to see if I could control my abilities, even randomly threw things at me.
What we found out is that I couldn’t understand mortal languages I hadn’t already learned. Immortal languages I could understand when spoken, but not when written. The characters looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t decipher a single word. The discoveries I was most interested in were my magical abilities.
I’d never known I could do spirit magic at all. Bailey explained it to me a little, but it really just seemed more confusing than anything. The only thing that seemed to make sense was that I needed to learn to control it. It could help me escape.
In the mind to accomplish this, I was moving through some forms I’d found drawn in a scroll. I wasn’t sure what kind of magic it was, but it was colored blue like my own magic so I thought it would be a decent bet. Besides, once I’d memorized the positions I found it calming to move through them.
From the doorway, I could feel Bailey watching me. Even with my eyes closed his aura dampened my mood.
“You aren’t doing the transitions right.” Ignoring him, I continued what I was doing. “Really, let me help you.”
I’d heard his voice approaching me, but didn’t expect him to physically correct my form and position. When I opened my eyes, his sleeve was half covering my vision as he adjusted the fingers of a position with my arm raised. I pulled my arms in and spun to degrade him to his face. Instead I found my eyes leveled at the base of Bailey’s neck.
Resting his chin on the top of my head, Bailey asked, “If you didn’t want help, why did you ask for scrolls?” I could feel the words ruffle my hair, but was prevented from stepping away. “I’ll just help you with the forms and leave.”
Trying, and failing, to get out of Bailey’s grip, I said, “I’m sure I can figure it out without you touching me, thank you.” He’d been getting really comfortable lately. Not as comfortable as he was about to get, I realized as he pulled my head up so I was looking at him. The look in his eye was much too warm for my liking.
To my surprise, when he pulled me into a kiss I hated it as much as I thought I would. “Touching isn’t all bad, Opal, and you can’t stay hung up on a beast demon forever.”
I turned my face away from a second kiss. “I can’t develop feelings for someone who’s been keeping me imprisoned either.” A push against Bailey’s chest made him wrap his arms tighter around me. “Where I’m from, this is a crime.” I kept my eyes on a paper that had fallen to the floor.
“How are feelings a crime? Have we not been growing closer over your stay here?”
“No.”
Even as he pulled my face to his again, I kept my eyes off him. “So now you won’t even look at me.” When I didn’t answer, I felt his hand on my back making some of the movements he’d shown me before. I heard the shutters on the window close. “Don’t pretend you hate me. You’ve been less combative, cooperative with our little experiments, even asked me to teach you things.”
“No one else has been around to ask.” It was making me nervous that he was slowly leading me to the bed. I wished the Immortals had the same compulsion demons had to obey my every command.
Bailey lifted me, pulling my legs to either side of his waist. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you look at me differently than you did when we met.”
“You’ve been talking to me about things I have an interest in, giving you a reason to exist for me.”
“That’s not all it is.” We’d made it to the bed and he was setting me down while climbing over me. “I’m going to prove it to you.” I pushed him back, but couldn’t focus enough to give it a magic boost.
A wild, unreasonable idea popped in my head as Bailey pulled my sleeve and exposed my shoulder. Pulling at every idea I had about demons, and hoping this worked as insane as it was, I screamed, “Help me!” In the corner of my eye I saw black smoke. “Help me get out of here!”
I wasn’t sure what demon I’d summoned. Not one I’d seen before, he looked like a normal man except his red eyes and the black and red smoke that seemed to emanate from his skin. All I could have told you from looking at him was that he was strong, and that he wasn’t happy about being summoned.
He did as he was bid, though, throwing Bailey off me and into the wall. He even managed to get me out of the palace before we were surrounded by heavenly soldiers. What a ridiculous name.
The leader of the battalion that stopped us stepped forward. “How did you escape your prison Rei?”
“Someone has impressive summoning skills,” the demon answered. “Maybe she can summon some more of your little pets.”
“All this talking,” I complained. “Can we please move on, I’d like to get back to the demon realm.”
Rei dropped my wrist and cracked his neck. “My pleasure.”
……………
“Well that went well.” I looked around the enchanted pot Rei and I were now imprisoned within. The fact that when we landed in here, he just sighed and sat in a meditation position told me everything I needed to know about this place.
Without moving, Rei said, “You weren’t much help. If anyone should complain it should be me.”
I groaned. “I don’t have much power and can’t control what I do have. Otherwise why would I summon you.”
“You summoned me from this prison I’ve been trapped in for centuries. You have strong magical abilities if anyone does.” Rei opened his eyes to glare at me. “I’d think you’d at least know that much if you knew how to summon an ancient demon.”
I punched the side of the pot, the enchantment sealing us in burning my hand when I made contact. “I don’t know how to summon anything, I just screamed for help and followed my instincts.”
Incredulous, Rei just stared for a moment. When he snapped out of it he said, “You can instinctively access demon magic?” I nodded. “You’re a mortal though.”
“I know what I am, asshole!” I punched the wall again. Then again, and again. The burning from the enchantment hurt, but not as much as knowing I was going to die in a pot and never see Pace again and have to spend every day with this piss example of an ‘ancient’ demon.
Rei, watching with some interest, stood. “Hit it again.”
“What? Why?”
“Just hit it again.”
Bewildered, I did. Then I thought, just for an instant, that I saw what he did. A flicker. I decided to give it a kick, Pace had taught me one that I was decently good at. Backing up, I threw myself into a front flip and brought my heel down as hard as I could. This time, the flicker seemed to show a crack.
“You must be a human after all, holy magic can’t be used against humans. It won’t work.”
That meant… “I can get us out.”
It took what felt like hours, but eventually it stopped burning and the slight orange glow around the pot faded to nothing.
“I think I can finish the job,” Rei said. As he’d watched me dispel the holy seal his smile had been growing, but it turned eerily giddy when he said this. He was scarier than I thought. “Get behind me if you don’t want to become collateral damage.”
His hands went through motions I’d never seen in that order before, building a ball of black and red energy. I could feel it’s destructive power from behind him and shuddered when it hit the wall and it just disintegrated. Rei was not someone I wanted to make an enemy of.
“Let’s go, but I won’t protect you like I did before. That’s how we ended up here in the first place.”
“Then just go to the demon realm. I have something to do first.” I needed to find the tracking talisman. Find was the wrong word, I knew exactly where it was and was just unsure how I’d get it without being caught again.
Rei, obedient as any demon I’d seen since I left the human realm, vanished in a puff of smoke. Without him standing there, I could see an Immortal in the room. Shit.
“Don’t worry,” she said, holding her hands out to show her peaceful intentions. “I’m here to meet you, I find you very interesting.” She held one of her hands out towards me like she wanted to shake it. “I’m the god of destiny, how are you?”
It didn’t seem like she wanted to hurt me, but I wasn’t sure if that meant I could trust her. “I just escaped an enchanted pot that I was only put in because I’m not considered normal. So.”
The goddess laughed. “I see.”
………………
I wasn’t sure what a destiny mark was, but I was sure the scale marks that now covered my arm was unflattering. True to the deal offered, though, the god of destiny sent me back to the Everlasting Forest with the tracking talisman once she’d cast the spell that gave me this ugly mark.
Touching the scales, and the spikes that ran up my forearm, I wondered if I could get these removed. Even as I thought this, they faded like they had never existed. Weird.
It was time to go looking for Pace. Maybe Rei too, since I wanted to thank him for helping me escape. Twice, really. Or maybe he just wanted to be left alone and I’d have to deal with the gratitude and feeling of owing someone on my own.
Under my breath I said, “Rei, if you want me to try and repay the debt you’ll have to find me.”
“You called?” I spun to see Rei, looking just as annoyed as he sounded, behind me in a state of undress I wouldn’t have expected. “I was about to bathe.”
“I can tell.” He pulled his robe back over his torso and tied it. “Why are you here?”
He rolled his eyes and growled. “You summoned me and for some reason I couldn’t ignore it. Stop doing that.”
Oh yeah. “Well, I have things to do. You can do whatever you want.”
“Oh no, you summoned me to repay your debt.” I heard a creaking. The spirits of the forest were moving trees. “Not here though, this place hates me.” He grabbed my wrist and waved his arm, transporting us to a mountain area with a spring. It looked super familiar.
It took a moment, but I remembered where I’d seen this before. “This is too close to a gremlin village for comfort.” Rei threw me a look and untied his robe. “What are you doing?”
“Taking a bath.” So this was where he’d been when I’d accidentally summoned him. Again.
I turned away, I wasn’t about to watch a veritable stranger undress and bathe if I didn’t have to. A large cup was lowered over my head. One with a thick handle and rough sides.
When I didn’t grab the cup, Rei said, “You can start paying me back by washing my hair. It hasn’t been cleaned in centuries.” Nasty, but it seemed appropriate to help considering. I grabbed the cup. “Just don’t touch the water.”
“How am I supposed to wash your hair if I can’t touch the water?”
“That’s your problem.” I heard movement in the water, and when I turned to do as I was asked I saw black and red smoke rising with the steam from the pool. No wonder he didn’t want me to touch the water. His aura was poisoning it. “Get to it, human.”
My eyes narrowed at Rei. “My name is Opaline. Don’t forget it.”
“Yes yes, Opaline, now stop talking and start washing.”
His annoying petulance aside, the hum he made when I poured the first cupful of water over his head was kind of cute. “You called yourself an ancient demon. What does that mean?” He was clearly in a better mood now. It felt safe to ask questions.
Eyes closed, Rei answered, “When the realms were created there were beasts and gods and mortals created with them. I was one of the beasts.”
An original, so to speak. Interesting theory. “What do you remember about it?” He peeked up at me pointedly and I poured another cupful of the spring water onto his hair. It seemed as long as I was pampering him he’d talk to me. I could handle that.
“I remember getting my human form, back then you had to travel to the mortal realm and kill a human to get one. If I knew my human form would match the human I killed in the ritual I would have picked a different one.”
“I remember getting my human form, back then you had to travel to the mortal realm and kill a human to get one. If I knew my human form would match the human I killed in the ritual I would have picked a different one.”
I noticed as I kept pouring the water over his hair that it was changing texture, it was curly. Interesting. “What would you change if you could?”
“I’d have picked someone taller. Or maybe a woman, but there weren’t any I found particularly attractive in the tribe I found.”
“Well, you’re about as tall as me, and people have been getting taller over time. You can’t have picked someone particularly short.”
“He was average in his tribe. There was another one I found after performing the ritual that were giants though. That would have been a better choice.” He slipped down in the water, submerging his head. After a moment or two the water started bubbling and he popped back up. “I might have to get out soon.”
There was a note of disappointment in his voice, which I felt as well. Who knew if he’d tell me about himself when he was less relaxed. I even learned his name from someone else. “Why?”
Laying his head on the side of the spring, Rei looked up at me. “Well, how toxic should I make this then?” Bubbles continued, releasing red smoke and creating a haze. I could see his point, but briefly considered ignoring it.
“Fine.” I poured one last cupful of the now toxic water on his head, letting it run onto the rock and watching it dissolve the dirt where it washed over. His eyes stayed on me as I did this. “What are you looking at?”
He turned his body so he could look at me more comfortably. “You. You look vaguely familiar but I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Actually, I get that a lot.” I kept it to myself that it was mostly from guys trying to hit on me.
Without blinking or moving his gaze, Rei pulled himself out of the pool and said, “You kind of remind me of the demons who made the Everlasting Forest.” He used his magic to create clean clothes and a towel. The towel was used to pat dry his hair, and his eyes never moved from my face.
“You’re starting to creep me out.”
“The spirit family was the ruling family for most of history, maybe you descended from a survivor of the war with Heaven.” Those eyes, red as anything I’d seen, felt like they were boring into my soul. Then a realization lit them up. “You look like the last princess.”
“I’d have picked someone taller. Or maybe a woman, but there weren’t any I found particularly attractive in the tribe I found.”
“Well, you’re about as tall as me, and people have been getting taller over time. You can’t have picked someone particularly short.”
“He was average in his tribe. There was another one I found after performing the ritual that were giants though. That would have been a better choice.” He slipped down in the water, submerging his head. After a moment or two the water started bubbling and he popped back up. “I might have to get out soon.”
There was a note of disappointment in his voice, which I felt as well. Who knew if he’d tell me about himself when he was less relaxed. I even learned his name from someone else. “Why?”
Laying his head on the side of the spring, Rei looked up at me. “Well, how toxic should I make this then?” Bubbles continued, releasing red smoke and creating a haze. I could see his point, but briefly considered ignoring it.
“Fine.” I poured one last cupful of the now toxic water on his head, letting it run onto the rock and watching it dissolve the dirt where it washed over. His eyes stayed on me as I did this. “What are you looking at?”
He turned his body so he could look at me more comfortably. “You. You look vaguely familiar but I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Actually, I get that a lot.” I kept it to myself that it was mostly from guys trying to hit on me.
Without blinking or moving his gaze, Rei pulled himself out of the pool and said, “You kind of remind me of the demons who made the Everlasting Forest.” He used his magic to create clean clothes and a towel. The towel was used to pat dry his hair, and his eyes never moved from my face.
“You’re starting to creep me out.”
“The spirit family was the ruling family for most of history, maybe you descended from a survivor of the war with Heaven.” Those eyes, red as anything I’d seen, felt like they were boring into my soul. Then a realization lit them up. “You look like the last princess.”
“Would you at least blink, I feel like you’re trying to possess me.” I didn’t think there was anyone nearby who could exorcize me either.
As instructed, Rei blinked. It broke whatever had been filling his thoughts too, because he grabbed the robe he’d been wearing earlier and threw it into the spring. It dissolved. How had he been able to make it so acidic just by taking a little bath?
As instructed, Rei blinked. It broke whatever had been filling his thoughts too, because he grabbed the robe he’d been wearing earlier and threw it into the spring. It dissolved. How had he been able to make it so acidic just by taking a little bath?
“Let’s go.”
“I have to go back to the forest, it’s the last place I saw someone I need to find.”
“If you remember,” Rei said, walking away from me, “the forest wants to kill me, and you owe me your life twice over.”
Damn it.
………………..
We were trapped. Not even Rei would survive a fall from this cliff and we’d both been stripped of our powers. It seemed like he was even struggling to maintain his human form. Wait, wasn’t his true form some sort of dragon?
“Rei, transform, you can fly right?” It was desperate, but he’d have to listen even without my magic. Right?
Turns out he either agreed or I could still compel him, because he grew and changed into an enormous gray dragon, covered in spikes and scales. He leapt from the cliff edge with me firmly in the grip of a claw that spanned most of my body.
We were followed by several immortals, but they were considerably fewer than the army we’d just fled. Much more manageable.
I couldn’t see what was happening above us, but heard a scream. The mangled body of one of the immortals dropped past me. “Rei, what’s happening?” He roared, but it turned out that I can’t understand dragon. Shit.
Another scream and another grotesque body. Someone or something was killing the flying immortals. The thought barely passed through my mind when I heard a whelp. One I recognized. Pace.
“Rei, if you can I need you to save him!”
I didn’t care that Rei hated when I screamed. I couldn’t help myself, I’d been searching for Pace for months and wasn’t going to let him die on my account now.
The dragon carrying me over the rocky desert at the base of the cliff flapped and rose into a fray. My powers were starting to return, so I threw energy bolts at the enemy. Rei caught Pace in his mouth and managed to get us transported a little bit away. We weren’t out of danger yet, though.
“How do I teleport?” Rei just dropped Pace and caught him in his other claw. The poor beast was barely conscious and covered in gaping wounds. “Pace, how do I teleport, we can’t save you if we don’t!”
Luckily, Rei was recovering his magic faster than me, because after spraying his poison and giving us some space he closed his wings around Pace and I. When he unfurled them again we were near the city. He put us down and turned back into a man.
It was just in time. Pace fell unconscious and turned into his beast form. I’d have to find out what it was actually called.
“Don’t worry. His natural healing abilities should clear most of that up, he just needs some good rest.” It wasn’t like Rei to reassure me, but I appreciated it. “Guess you owe me your life three times over now. And his once.”
I wasn’t sure how far we were from Heaven’s army, but I figured it was a safe bet they wouldn’t enter a demon city. Especially now that they were sending scouts to see who the hell we were.
The scouts decided we weren’t a threat when they saw we all seemed to be demons. We were given sanctuary, with rooms and some hot food that moved too much for comfort, but tasted pretty good. There were even a couple mortals in the city that volunteered their living blood for Pace. It would be a good place to rest and plan our next moves.
Not long after we were fed and sheltered, we were visited by a general of Hell’s army.
“I need you to tell me everything you know about the holy military, their movements and positions and anything else you remember.”
“Rei, can you answer his questions?” I just wanted to be by Pace. He hadn’t turned back into a man yet, and I knew that was the form he preferred. Rei nodded and waved me off.
………….
It took a few days for him to wake up. I was half asleep, in a chair with my head resting on the bed next to his hand. When he did wake up he ran his fingers through my hair and said, “I found you.”
“I have to go back to the forest, it’s the last place I saw someone I need to find.”
“If you remember,” Rei said, walking away from me, “the forest wants to kill me, and you owe me your life twice over.”
Damn it.
………………..
We were trapped. Not even Rei would survive a fall from this cliff and we’d both been stripped of our powers. It seemed like he was even struggling to maintain his human form. Wait, wasn’t his true form some sort of dragon?
“Rei, transform, you can fly right?” It was desperate, but he’d have to listen even without my magic. Right?
Turns out he either agreed or I could still compel him, because he grew and changed into an enormous gray dragon, covered in spikes and scales. He leapt from the cliff edge with me firmly in the grip of a claw that spanned most of my body.
We were followed by several immortals, but they were considerably fewer than the army we’d just fled. Much more manageable.
I couldn’t see what was happening above us, but heard a scream. The mangled body of one of the immortals dropped past me. “Rei, what’s happening?” He roared, but it turned out that I can’t understand dragon. Shit.
Another scream and another grotesque body. Someone or something was killing the flying immortals. The thought barely passed through my mind when I heard a whelp. One I recognized. Pace.
“Rei, if you can I need you to save him!”
I didn’t care that Rei hated when I screamed. I couldn’t help myself, I’d been searching for Pace for months and wasn’t going to let him die on my account now.
The dragon carrying me over the rocky desert at the base of the cliff flapped and rose into a fray. My powers were starting to return, so I threw energy bolts at the enemy. Rei caught Pace in his mouth and managed to get us transported a little bit away. We weren’t out of danger yet, though.
“How do I teleport?” Rei just dropped Pace and caught him in his other claw. The poor beast was barely conscious and covered in gaping wounds. “Pace, how do I teleport, we can’t save you if we don’t!”
Luckily, Rei was recovering his magic faster than me, because after spraying his poison and giving us some space he closed his wings around Pace and I. When he unfurled them again we were near the city. He put us down and turned back into a man.
It was just in time. Pace fell unconscious and turned into his beast form. I’d have to find out what it was actually called.
“Don’t worry. His natural healing abilities should clear most of that up, he just needs some good rest.” It wasn’t like Rei to reassure me, but I appreciated it. “Guess you owe me your life three times over now. And his once.”
I wasn’t sure how far we were from Heaven’s army, but I figured it was a safe bet they wouldn’t enter a demon city. Especially now that they were sending scouts to see who the hell we were.
The scouts decided we weren’t a threat when they saw we all seemed to be demons. We were given sanctuary, with rooms and some hot food that moved too much for comfort, but tasted pretty good. There were even a couple mortals in the city that volunteered their living blood for Pace. It would be a good place to rest and plan our next moves.
Not long after we were fed and sheltered, we were visited by a general of Hell’s army.
“I need you to tell me everything you know about the holy military, their movements and positions and anything else you remember.”
“Rei, can you answer his questions?” I just wanted to be by Pace. He hadn’t turned back into a man yet, and I knew that was the form he preferred. Rei nodded and waved me off.
………….
It took a few days for him to wake up. I was half asleep, in a chair with my head resting on the bed next to his hand. When he did wake up he ran his fingers through my hair and said, “I found you.”
I almost thought I was dreaming. “What?” My head lifted.
“I found you, witch.” Exhaustion filled those vibrant green eyes, but they were open. He really was awake. “Are you going to say something or just stare at me like a ghost?”
Breaking myself out of the shock, I pulled his hand to my lips. He was alive, awake, and speaking. The demon healer had said it was a low probability and I was going to cherish it. “You didn’t die,” I sobbed. “You showed up and did that stupid thing and you didn’t die.”
“It’s not stupid if it works.” He coughed, but scooted over in the bed and pulled me next to him. “Besides, how would you know I was there if I hadn’t played leapfrog.”
I laughed, remembering when I told him about the game. Holding his face between my hands, I let my tears run into the pillow we were now sharing. “Never risk yourself like that again.”
Pace was about to respond, but I pressed my lips into his. I felt his arm wrap around me and his mouth respond to mine. It had been so long, I thought I’d never feel his warmth and love again. We would have taken full advantage of the opportunity, too, if Rei hadn’t cleared his throat from the other side of the room. I’d forgotten he was there.
“I can see why you wanted to find this guy so badly. You didn’t tell me he was your lover.”
Oh no. Ever since he’d seen that my destiny mark was his own scales and spikes Rei thought we were destined to be together. He’d never said as much, but it didn’t take a genius to see it.
Even Pace could sense where the displeasure was coming from. “Now that she has found me, why are you still here?”
“Stop it.”
“You don’t control me, remember?” That’s right, I’d ordered Pace to only follow the commands he wanted to. I wanted him to have the choice.
Even though it took effort for him to do so, Pace sat up and pulled me into his lap. He was so tall. I’d forgotten just how tall he was until I was looking up at him. “Just remember you’re still injured, please, and that Rei saved us both.”
“Don’t forget that I’m the one who taught her to use demon magic.” Rei was trying to provoke Pace. “And that I’m the one who’s been keeping her safe while you’ve been missing.” It was working. “Or how about that I saved her twice before you showed up.”
“Rei, shut up!” He didn’t like it, I could see it all over his face, but he had to. “Go do something somewhere else.”
As soon as he was gone I felt Pace’s muscles relax. “So, you have a new boyfriend.”
“It isn’t like that, Pace, he’s the reason I was able to escape the holy realm.” I could see why jealousy was described as a monster. “He saved my life twice in the same number of days, would you have gone off on your own if you were me?”
He sighed, but he answered, “I guess not.” I pulled one of his hands to my cheek. “I don’t like it any more though. I should have been there.”
“I’d rather have you alive than have you save me every time I run into trouble. You aren’t that strong of a demon.” A dry chuckle slipped out of his throat. So much for our romantic moment earlier. Mood killed.
………….
“We haven’t been alone like this since Pace joined us.” I knew Rei knew I’d been avoiding it, but I wasn’t going to say anything if he didn’t. “Do you think I’m going to try and steal you from him?”
That was the thing, though. He wouldn’t have to try if he didn’t want to. Things had changed too much, I had changed too much, for Pace and I to go back to what we were before. “I love him so much.”
“Not what I asked.”
In the moment, the thing I’d been struggling to admit even to myself slipped out. “I love you more.” His eyes darted to mine. “It’s terrifying.” Not to mention it filled me with guilt.
Rei reached for my hand, but I pulled my fingers away. “So, is that your choice?” I didn’t know, so I didn’t say anything. How could I make this kind of decision when my committed partner who was deeply in love with me wasn’t there? It felt like cheating. “Are you going to tell him?”
“I wish you’d stop asking me questions I don’t know how to answer.”
“You could order it, you know.” I studied Rei’s expression, solemn as it was, and found nothing to take comfort in disliking. Fuck. “You could tell me to break it to him and I wouldn’t be able to refuse.”
Him offering to take on the hard part, if I decided to go to him, somehow made me feel worse. It meant he really did care for me. It proved I’d been lying to myself about us just being friends and liking that way. “If I’m going to end things with him I’ll do it myself. I’m just not sure if it’s the right choice.” This was a lie, I just didn’t know how he’d handle it.
Eyes fixed on something behind me, Rei asked, “Who would you be happier with if you couldn’t see the other for the rest of your life?” I just shook my head and covered my face with my hands. “No, think about it. Who would you rather be with?”
Since I’d already told him one thing I had a hard time saying to myself. What would it hurt to basically reword it to tell another secret? “Probably you.” I heard something drop behind me.
Spinning, I saw Pace. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, FUCK.
“You told me I was imagining things, there’s nothing and you’re avoiding him to make me feel better.”
“I knew you were avoiding me.”
I shot Rei a glare, tears rising, while reaching for Pace. When our hands didn’t meet I looked back at him and he’d stepped away from me.
“You told me we were fated, and that his scales in your destiny mark just meant he was an important friend.” Tears started falling down his cheeks. “You told me everything was the same, that the time and distance didn’t affect your feelings.”
“I found you, witch.” Exhaustion filled those vibrant green eyes, but they were open. He really was awake. “Are you going to say something or just stare at me like a ghost?”
Breaking myself out of the shock, I pulled his hand to my lips. He was alive, awake, and speaking. The demon healer had said it was a low probability and I was going to cherish it. “You didn’t die,” I sobbed. “You showed up and did that stupid thing and you didn’t die.”
“It’s not stupid if it works.” He coughed, but scooted over in the bed and pulled me next to him. “Besides, how would you know I was there if I hadn’t played leapfrog.”
I laughed, remembering when I told him about the game. Holding his face between my hands, I let my tears run into the pillow we were now sharing. “Never risk yourself like that again.”
Pace was about to respond, but I pressed my lips into his. I felt his arm wrap around me and his mouth respond to mine. It had been so long, I thought I’d never feel his warmth and love again. We would have taken full advantage of the opportunity, too, if Rei hadn’t cleared his throat from the other side of the room. I’d forgotten he was there.
“I can see why you wanted to find this guy so badly. You didn’t tell me he was your lover.”
Oh no. Ever since he’d seen that my destiny mark was his own scales and spikes Rei thought we were destined to be together. He’d never said as much, but it didn’t take a genius to see it.
Even Pace could sense where the displeasure was coming from. “Now that she has found me, why are you still here?”
“Stop it.”
“You don’t control me, remember?” That’s right, I’d ordered Pace to only follow the commands he wanted to. I wanted him to have the choice.
Even though it took effort for him to do so, Pace sat up and pulled me into his lap. He was so tall. I’d forgotten just how tall he was until I was looking up at him. “Just remember you’re still injured, please, and that Rei saved us both.”
“Don’t forget that I’m the one who taught her to use demon magic.” Rei was trying to provoke Pace. “And that I’m the one who’s been keeping her safe while you’ve been missing.” It was working. “Or how about that I saved her twice before you showed up.”
“Rei, shut up!” He didn’t like it, I could see it all over his face, but he had to. “Go do something somewhere else.”
As soon as he was gone I felt Pace’s muscles relax. “So, you have a new boyfriend.”
“It isn’t like that, Pace, he’s the reason I was able to escape the holy realm.” I could see why jealousy was described as a monster. “He saved my life twice in the same number of days, would you have gone off on your own if you were me?”
He sighed, but he answered, “I guess not.” I pulled one of his hands to my cheek. “I don’t like it any more though. I should have been there.”
“I’d rather have you alive than have you save me every time I run into trouble. You aren’t that strong of a demon.” A dry chuckle slipped out of his throat. So much for our romantic moment earlier. Mood killed.
………….
“We haven’t been alone like this since Pace joined us.” I knew Rei knew I’d been avoiding it, but I wasn’t going to say anything if he didn’t. “Do you think I’m going to try and steal you from him?”
That was the thing, though. He wouldn’t have to try if he didn’t want to. Things had changed too much, I had changed too much, for Pace and I to go back to what we were before. “I love him so much.”
“Not what I asked.”
In the moment, the thing I’d been struggling to admit even to myself slipped out. “I love you more.” His eyes darted to mine. “It’s terrifying.” Not to mention it filled me with guilt.
Rei reached for my hand, but I pulled my fingers away. “So, is that your choice?” I didn’t know, so I didn’t say anything. How could I make this kind of decision when my committed partner who was deeply in love with me wasn’t there? It felt like cheating. “Are you going to tell him?”
“I wish you’d stop asking me questions I don’t know how to answer.”
“You could order it, you know.” I studied Rei’s expression, solemn as it was, and found nothing to take comfort in disliking. Fuck. “You could tell me to break it to him and I wouldn’t be able to refuse.”
Him offering to take on the hard part, if I decided to go to him, somehow made me feel worse. It meant he really did care for me. It proved I’d been lying to myself about us just being friends and liking that way. “If I’m going to end things with him I’ll do it myself. I’m just not sure if it’s the right choice.” This was a lie, I just didn’t know how he’d handle it.
Eyes fixed on something behind me, Rei asked, “Who would you be happier with if you couldn’t see the other for the rest of your life?” I just shook my head and covered my face with my hands. “No, think about it. Who would you rather be with?”
Since I’d already told him one thing I had a hard time saying to myself. What would it hurt to basically reword it to tell another secret? “Probably you.” I heard something drop behind me.
Spinning, I saw Pace. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, FUCK.
“You told me I was imagining things, there’s nothing and you’re avoiding him to make me feel better.”
“I knew you were avoiding me.”
I shot Rei a glare, tears rising, while reaching for Pace. When our hands didn’t meet I looked back at him and he’d stepped away from me.
“You told me we were fated, and that his scales in your destiny mark just meant he was an important friend.” Tears started falling down his cheeks. “You told me everything was the same, that the time and distance didn’t affect your feelings.”
“Pace, I didn’t mean t-”
“You told me there was nothing to worry about and that I was being paranoid.” He took a couple steps back.
Rei, ever the instigator, put a hand on my shoulder. “Maybe you should deal with your betrayal elsewhere.”
“Rei, will you shut up!” The hurt in Pace’s face was too much. When I approached him to offer some comfort, though, he turned and ran off. Even turned into his beast form. I fell to my knees, ignoring the burn of my own tears. Pace didn’t deserve this.
Arms wrapped around me. It felt like further betrayal to take comfort in the arms of someone else while Pace was forced to handle his feelings alone.
“Why would you do that?” Rei didn’t say anything. Oh, right, I’d told him not to speak. “You can answer me. But it better not be a flippant answer, I’m already unsure if I can forgive you for this.”
Laying his head on my shoulder and tightening his arms around me, Rei said, “I didn’t think you’d ever come around. I also know he’ll forgive you since I clearly manipulated the situation.” If looks could kill, he would have melted. Instead I found him smiling back at my withering stare. “He’ll come back and you can talk it out.”
He was probably right, but there was a better way to break up with someone than ripping their heart out and throwing it in the garbage. Pulling myself out of Rei’s embrace, I threw myself on my little bed and hid under the furs.
“That’s not going to make anything better. You might as well give me a test run.”
I’d known this guy had very few feelings, but he was making me question if he had any at all. “You have no shame.”
Peeking wasn’t necessary, but it confirmed that he was amused by this whole scenario. He had leaned back on his arms and looked quite comfortable. “Shame is for gods and mortals, not demons.”
He wasn’t wrong, and he could see in my eyes that I agreed. Sometimes words weren’t necessary.
Taking it as an invitation to crawl over to my bed, Rei pulled my face out of the blanket and kissed me in one smooth motion. How could he take my breath away as I was crying over another man?
“Do you want me to stop?” I’d almost forgotten why I was upset, of course I didn’t want him to stop. He laughed into my kiss. Rei was a terrible influence, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to deal with him leaving my life. How had I gotten here?
My mind couldn’t wander any further, Rei pulled himself onto the bed and under my furs. I couldn’t count the times I’d imagined him touching me like this.
Hours later, deep in the night, I was sitting on my bed watching Rei sleep across the hut. It was too late now, but I’d wished I’d had the wherewithal to stop him before we’d had sex. I was still tingling from it.
This became more of a regret when Pace slipped through the door. His eyes immediately fell on mine. “Hey.” His voice was low and hoarse.
“Can we talk?”
Glancing at Rei, Pace answered, “Does it have to be here?” His eyes were swollen. I couldn’t refuse him this, considering how badly I’d hurt him today.
I stood and let Pace lead me out of the hut and down the trail we often hunted on. “I’m sorry.” His fingers slid comfortably between mine. “That wasn’t how I wanted to tell you, I wasn’t even sure myself until I actually said it.”
He sighed. “You didn’t know you liked me at all until after that run-in with that bear.” I laughed.
The memory of him saving me from the cursed beast floated around my head. I’d almost died, would have if he didn’t have healing abilities. “Never really been in touch with my feelings.”
Pace stopped walking. “What’s that smell?” He sniffed around, then sniffed my hair. “Why do you smell like him?” My hand was dropped. I’d forgotten about his hyper sensitive nose. “I expected him to try but I didn’t think you’d just move from me in your bed to him.”
“That’s not what happened.” It was kind of what happened though, and we both knew it. “I mean he kissed me, but-”
“You just forgot I was out in the wild, having just been denounced by the woman I love.” This time, instead of being hurt, Pace was angry. “When did you decide it was okay to lie to me?” Unsure what to say, my tongue stumbled over half formed words. “What point did you tell him to stop, out of respect and decency? Or did you abandon those when you were learning demon magic?”
“Pace, I don’t know wha-”
“If you don’t know what to say just stop talking! You’ve never had a problem keeping your fucking mouth shut before!”
I was stunned. He’d never spoken to me like that before. Not that I didn’t deserve that, probably deserved worse, but I hadn’t realized he was this angry. “Pace-”
“Don’t say my name. I clearly don’t exist when you’re with Rei, so why don’t you go back and I’ll wait until you aren’t there to get my things.”
“Pace, please.”
“No, no it’s fine. Just go.”
The sound of some night creatures coming to investigate the noise we were making put me on edge. “You can’t just leave in the middle of the night, it’s not safe.”
“I survived just fine without you.” His voice was resolute.
“When we met you were dying in a gremlin barn.” I pulled at his arm, there was movement in the corner of my eye and we needed to get back. “Please just wait until morning.”
Throwing me on his back, Pace ran back to the hut. He was easily faster than anything stalking the wilderness and I was sure we’d lost whatever had almost gotten us. “Just for the night,” he growled, helping me down. “I don’t want to spend any more time with the dragon than I have to.” He laid down on the bed, the only one since we’d always shared and Rei preferred to sleep on the ground. “You can sleep by him, right?”
I knew he could smell what Rei and I had done on the blanket. I also knew that he was too angry and embarrassed to change his mind about sleeping there and making me sleep on the floor. So I meditated.
Okay, so I fell asleep in a meditative position, but I did end up on the spirit plane. The mirrored floor seemed to stretch for infinity. I only looked as far as the only other person in sight. The god of destiny. “I see you’ve been developing your magic. And discovered that you’re part demon.”
“I’m afraid I’ve messed up other things though.”
“I know,” the goddess nodded grimly. “And now you’re caught in a decision that will determine how the rest of your life will go.” My eyes fell to my feet. “Would you like some guidance?”
“Are you allowed to give real guidance?”
She glanced around. “I don’t see anyone here to stop me.” I nodded. “Your destiny is tied to love, but you will never have happiness. There is another choice you could make. Your life will be calm and long, but you will never taste love again.” Pace, she was talking about Pace.
So I could be happy with Pace and live a long life, or I could be content with Rei and likely die young.
“What would you choose?” She just laughed. “No, really. Because I know what I want but I know it’s not what’s right.”
“You told me there was nothing to worry about and that I was being paranoid.” He took a couple steps back.
Rei, ever the instigator, put a hand on my shoulder. “Maybe you should deal with your betrayal elsewhere.”
“Rei, will you shut up!” The hurt in Pace’s face was too much. When I approached him to offer some comfort, though, he turned and ran off. Even turned into his beast form. I fell to my knees, ignoring the burn of my own tears. Pace didn’t deserve this.
Arms wrapped around me. It felt like further betrayal to take comfort in the arms of someone else while Pace was forced to handle his feelings alone.
“Why would you do that?” Rei didn’t say anything. Oh, right, I’d told him not to speak. “You can answer me. But it better not be a flippant answer, I’m already unsure if I can forgive you for this.”
Laying his head on my shoulder and tightening his arms around me, Rei said, “I didn’t think you’d ever come around. I also know he’ll forgive you since I clearly manipulated the situation.” If looks could kill, he would have melted. Instead I found him smiling back at my withering stare. “He’ll come back and you can talk it out.”
He was probably right, but there was a better way to break up with someone than ripping their heart out and throwing it in the garbage. Pulling myself out of Rei’s embrace, I threw myself on my little bed and hid under the furs.
“That’s not going to make anything better. You might as well give me a test run.”
I’d known this guy had very few feelings, but he was making me question if he had any at all. “You have no shame.”
Peeking wasn’t necessary, but it confirmed that he was amused by this whole scenario. He had leaned back on his arms and looked quite comfortable. “Shame is for gods and mortals, not demons.”
He wasn’t wrong, and he could see in my eyes that I agreed. Sometimes words weren’t necessary.
Taking it as an invitation to crawl over to my bed, Rei pulled my face out of the blanket and kissed me in one smooth motion. How could he take my breath away as I was crying over another man?
“Do you want me to stop?” I’d almost forgotten why I was upset, of course I didn’t want him to stop. He laughed into my kiss. Rei was a terrible influence, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to deal with him leaving my life. How had I gotten here?
My mind couldn’t wander any further, Rei pulled himself onto the bed and under my furs. I couldn’t count the times I’d imagined him touching me like this.
Hours later, deep in the night, I was sitting on my bed watching Rei sleep across the hut. It was too late now, but I’d wished I’d had the wherewithal to stop him before we’d had sex. I was still tingling from it.
This became more of a regret when Pace slipped through the door. His eyes immediately fell on mine. “Hey.” His voice was low and hoarse.
“Can we talk?”
Glancing at Rei, Pace answered, “Does it have to be here?” His eyes were swollen. I couldn’t refuse him this, considering how badly I’d hurt him today.
I stood and let Pace lead me out of the hut and down the trail we often hunted on. “I’m sorry.” His fingers slid comfortably between mine. “That wasn’t how I wanted to tell you, I wasn’t even sure myself until I actually said it.”
He sighed. “You didn’t know you liked me at all until after that run-in with that bear.” I laughed.
The memory of him saving me from the cursed beast floated around my head. I’d almost died, would have if he didn’t have healing abilities. “Never really been in touch with my feelings.”
Pace stopped walking. “What’s that smell?” He sniffed around, then sniffed my hair. “Why do you smell like him?” My hand was dropped. I’d forgotten about his hyper sensitive nose. “I expected him to try but I didn’t think you’d just move from me in your bed to him.”
“That’s not what happened.” It was kind of what happened though, and we both knew it. “I mean he kissed me, but-”
“You just forgot I was out in the wild, having just been denounced by the woman I love.” This time, instead of being hurt, Pace was angry. “When did you decide it was okay to lie to me?” Unsure what to say, my tongue stumbled over half formed words. “What point did you tell him to stop, out of respect and decency? Or did you abandon those when you were learning demon magic?”
“Pace, I don’t know wha-”
“If you don’t know what to say just stop talking! You’ve never had a problem keeping your fucking mouth shut before!”
I was stunned. He’d never spoken to me like that before. Not that I didn’t deserve that, probably deserved worse, but I hadn’t realized he was this angry. “Pace-”
“Don’t say my name. I clearly don’t exist when you’re with Rei, so why don’t you go back and I’ll wait until you aren’t there to get my things.”
“Pace, please.”
“No, no it’s fine. Just go.”
The sound of some night creatures coming to investigate the noise we were making put me on edge. “You can’t just leave in the middle of the night, it’s not safe.”
“I survived just fine without you.” His voice was resolute.
“When we met you were dying in a gremlin barn.” I pulled at his arm, there was movement in the corner of my eye and we needed to get back. “Please just wait until morning.”
Throwing me on his back, Pace ran back to the hut. He was easily faster than anything stalking the wilderness and I was sure we’d lost whatever had almost gotten us. “Just for the night,” he growled, helping me down. “I don’t want to spend any more time with the dragon than I have to.” He laid down on the bed, the only one since we’d always shared and Rei preferred to sleep on the ground. “You can sleep by him, right?”
I knew he could smell what Rei and I had done on the blanket. I also knew that he was too angry and embarrassed to change his mind about sleeping there and making me sleep on the floor. So I meditated.
Okay, so I fell asleep in a meditative position, but I did end up on the spirit plane. The mirrored floor seemed to stretch for infinity. I only looked as far as the only other person in sight. The god of destiny. “I see you’ve been developing your magic. And discovered that you’re part demon.”
“I’m afraid I’ve messed up other things though.”
“I know,” the goddess nodded grimly. “And now you’re caught in a decision that will determine how the rest of your life will go.” My eyes fell to my feet. “Would you like some guidance?”
“Are you allowed to give real guidance?”
She glanced around. “I don’t see anyone here to stop me.” I nodded. “Your destiny is tied to love, but you will never have happiness. There is another choice you could make. Your life will be calm and long, but you will never taste love again.” Pace, she was talking about Pace.
So I could be happy with Pace and live a long life, or I could be content with Rei and likely die young.
“What would you choose?” She just laughed. “No, really. Because I know what I want but I know it’s not what’s right.”
The goddess approached me and encircled my hands with hers. “You have to determine if he’s worth doing the wrong thing for.”
I’d always upheld the belief that if you have to compromise yourself for someone, they aren’t right for you. Admitting you were wrong, sure. Meeting someone in the middle, yeah. But turning away from your beliefs and standards?
Yet, here I was caught between a man I loved dearly and hurt deeply, and a man that made my heart melt in so many ways.
Seeing how I was torn, the goddess said, “You need to consider two things. First, is the love for one enough to live with how you’ve changed him? Second, is the love for the other worth losing the goodness you have now?”
Quietly, I asked, “Why are you telling me all of this?”
“You asked me to.” The woman laughed, filling the plane with the bell-like sound. “And I’m quite fond of you. Not many people get the opportunity to decide their own destiny in the immortal realms and it’s great fun.”
In the immortal realms. So the payoff for a short, mortal life was that your fate wasn’t set in stone. “Is it too late to just go back? Treat this like it was a dream and return to my old life?”
“That choice was made long ago. You gave it up to find Pace, remember?” I did. The immortals had destroyed the magic spring since, breaking the only known doorway between the mortals and immortals.
“I get it, so unless there’s some message even further between the lines let’s move on.”
“Oh, fine. Can we talk about how weird it is that neither of them bleed red then? Because I’m pretty sure they’re the only one’s in all the realms who don’t.”
Despite myself I laughed. “Would you meditate with me actually?”
With a nod, the god of destiny sat on the ground with me. The plane faded before we could actually start the process, though. I was waking up. How was I supposed to handle what I’d wake up to if I only just found out I had to make this fucking decision?!
“Opaline, Opal you should get up now.” My eyes opened and I found myself still sitting in my meditative pose, Rei softly pushing on my shoulder. Geez did my back hurt, though, from sleeping so slumped over. “Opal, you should see this.”
Stretching the kinks out of my spine, I looked over to where Rei was motioning. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was just Pace asleep on the bed. “Okay, and?”
“When did he get back last night?”
“Like I’d know. I grew up with digital clocks.”
“Why is he even still here, didn’t you make yourself clear?”
Before I answered I thought it best to listen to Pace’s breathing. “We both know you backed me into a corner yesterday. I need some time to process.” It was a good thing I did, he wasn’t asleep and his breathing always gave it away.
A bit deflated with my response, Rei decided to change the subject. “What’s a digital clock?”
Pace continued pretending to sleep until Rei left to get some firewood. When he rolled over to watch me practice my forms I just waited for him to say something. I didn’t know what to say to him anyway.
“Can I join you?” I nodded, our eyes meeting and holding each other while he stood and walked me out to the little clearing by the hut.
We moved in sync, holding each position and gliding into the next. We did have slightly different styles, his magic being shadow and mine spirit, but it felt like we were almost perfectly matched.
That’s what made my mind up. The almost. How could I settle for almost perfect, almost in love, almost content, almost the right fit? How could I let him settle for almost?
I stopped my forms. “Pace.” He didn’t stop, but he held the form he was in a little longer. “Would you settle for less when you knew you could have more?” Again he said nothing, but stayed longer in this form than the last. “Pace, will you talk to me?”
He dropped his posture and laid down in the grass. “Can we pretend you’re still processing?” I knew he’d been faking sleep.
“Can we pretend you know that you’re not really in love with me either?”
“Okay, so we’re not going to make this easier for either of us then.” He looked up at me. “Unless you’re serious about thinking I’m not in love with you.”
I sat next to him and sighed. “Well, I thought I was in love with you. And then I actually fell in love with someone.” He groaned. “I’m serious, it’s something you don’t know until you know. Once you find it, this almost perfect love will feel like it falls just short.”
“Almost perfect.” He found a stick and used it to pick at his teeth. I didn’t have anything else to say, so I waited for him to think about it. Despite both of us knowing this was really the end, and how emotional it had been the night before, sitting here and letting it sink in was strangely peaceful. “Almost.”
As he sat up I asked, “Don’t you want to see what the real thing is?”
“I’m not going to find it if I’m here pining over you.” He was right, but I selfishly didn’t want him to leave. “I should go, was only here for support while that dragon guy taught you to access and control your magic.”
“He offered to help you too,” I laughed.
With a wrinkled nose, Pace said, “Don’t call it help. I still don’t like the guy.”
For a few moments we sat in silence and enjoyed the sun. The day was already half gone. “Where will you go?” I almost didn’t want to know, but I also wanted to see if he had any sort of plan.
“Remember the city we went to after we found each other again?” I nodded. “I was offered a job there. Might go back and see if it’s still open.”
It was something, and I remembered he’d liked the city. While I preferred isolation, he’d thrived in the bustle and hadn’t wanted to leave. “I think that would be good for you.”
“Then go, so you can get there before it gets dark!”
Pace and I both jumped, we hadn’t realized Rei had returned and was watching us through the window. “You know, I think I will.”
“Can I give you a hug before you leave?”
He looked over at me, and I finally noticed that he was holding back tears. “I don’t think that would be a good idea. Maybe you’ll visit one day, and you can hug me then.” Pace was right, of course, but that didn’t make it any easier when he disappeared in a cloud of smoke and I was left in the clearing alone. I was going to miss him.
Pace hadn’t been gone for all of thirty seconds when I heard Rei call out, “Does this mean we can move to a cave? Huts are nice and all, but it’s much less ideal for my needs.” This man. This man is who I gave up guaranteed happiness for.
“Shut up Rei!”
He obeyed, but leaped through the window and ran at me. I laughed and tried to avoid it, but he caught me and pulled me into him. No words were needed for what he wanted to say. His eyes said it all.
“Can you wait until I finish going through the forms?” A tug at the back of my shirt was answer enough.
What had the god of destiny said? Bliss and contentment, with the demon of chaos it would be mixed with some interesting experiences but I was sure she’d said bliss. I could feel it already.
………………..
I was going to destroy the village, but by the fire was an elder surrounded by children. He looked familiar. I decided to crouch and listen to what he was saying for a few minutes. It wouldn’t change their fate tonight and maybe it would provide some entertainment.
I’d always upheld the belief that if you have to compromise yourself for someone, they aren’t right for you. Admitting you were wrong, sure. Meeting someone in the middle, yeah. But turning away from your beliefs and standards?
Yet, here I was caught between a man I loved dearly and hurt deeply, and a man that made my heart melt in so many ways.
Seeing how I was torn, the goddess said, “You need to consider two things. First, is the love for one enough to live with how you’ve changed him? Second, is the love for the other worth losing the goodness you have now?”
Quietly, I asked, “Why are you telling me all of this?”
“You asked me to.” The woman laughed, filling the plane with the bell-like sound. “And I’m quite fond of you. Not many people get the opportunity to decide their own destiny in the immortal realms and it’s great fun.”
In the immortal realms. So the payoff for a short, mortal life was that your fate wasn’t set in stone. “Is it too late to just go back? Treat this like it was a dream and return to my old life?”
“That choice was made long ago. You gave it up to find Pace, remember?” I did. The immortals had destroyed the magic spring since, breaking the only known doorway between the mortals and immortals.
“I get it, so unless there’s some message even further between the lines let’s move on.”
“Oh, fine. Can we talk about how weird it is that neither of them bleed red then? Because I’m pretty sure they’re the only one’s in all the realms who don’t.”
Despite myself I laughed. “Would you meditate with me actually?”
With a nod, the god of destiny sat on the ground with me. The plane faded before we could actually start the process, though. I was waking up. How was I supposed to handle what I’d wake up to if I only just found out I had to make this fucking decision?!
“Opaline, Opal you should get up now.” My eyes opened and I found myself still sitting in my meditative pose, Rei softly pushing on my shoulder. Geez did my back hurt, though, from sleeping so slumped over. “Opal, you should see this.”
Stretching the kinks out of my spine, I looked over to where Rei was motioning. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was just Pace asleep on the bed. “Okay, and?”
“When did he get back last night?”
“Like I’d know. I grew up with digital clocks.”
“Why is he even still here, didn’t you make yourself clear?”
Before I answered I thought it best to listen to Pace’s breathing. “We both know you backed me into a corner yesterday. I need some time to process.” It was a good thing I did, he wasn’t asleep and his breathing always gave it away.
A bit deflated with my response, Rei decided to change the subject. “What’s a digital clock?”
Pace continued pretending to sleep until Rei left to get some firewood. When he rolled over to watch me practice my forms I just waited for him to say something. I didn’t know what to say to him anyway.
“Can I join you?” I nodded, our eyes meeting and holding each other while he stood and walked me out to the little clearing by the hut.
We moved in sync, holding each position and gliding into the next. We did have slightly different styles, his magic being shadow and mine spirit, but it felt like we were almost perfectly matched.
That’s what made my mind up. The almost. How could I settle for almost perfect, almost in love, almost content, almost the right fit? How could I let him settle for almost?
I stopped my forms. “Pace.” He didn’t stop, but he held the form he was in a little longer. “Would you settle for less when you knew you could have more?” Again he said nothing, but stayed longer in this form than the last. “Pace, will you talk to me?”
He dropped his posture and laid down in the grass. “Can we pretend you’re still processing?” I knew he’d been faking sleep.
“Can we pretend you know that you’re not really in love with me either?”
“Okay, so we’re not going to make this easier for either of us then.” He looked up at me. “Unless you’re serious about thinking I’m not in love with you.”
I sat next to him and sighed. “Well, I thought I was in love with you. And then I actually fell in love with someone.” He groaned. “I’m serious, it’s something you don’t know until you know. Once you find it, this almost perfect love will feel like it falls just short.”
“Almost perfect.” He found a stick and used it to pick at his teeth. I didn’t have anything else to say, so I waited for him to think about it. Despite both of us knowing this was really the end, and how emotional it had been the night before, sitting here and letting it sink in was strangely peaceful. “Almost.”
As he sat up I asked, “Don’t you want to see what the real thing is?”
“I’m not going to find it if I’m here pining over you.” He was right, but I selfishly didn’t want him to leave. “I should go, was only here for support while that dragon guy taught you to access and control your magic.”
“He offered to help you too,” I laughed.
With a wrinkled nose, Pace said, “Don’t call it help. I still don’t like the guy.”
For a few moments we sat in silence and enjoyed the sun. The day was already half gone. “Where will you go?” I almost didn’t want to know, but I also wanted to see if he had any sort of plan.
“Remember the city we went to after we found each other again?” I nodded. “I was offered a job there. Might go back and see if it’s still open.”
It was something, and I remembered he’d liked the city. While I preferred isolation, he’d thrived in the bustle and hadn’t wanted to leave. “I think that would be good for you.”
“Then go, so you can get there before it gets dark!”
Pace and I both jumped, we hadn’t realized Rei had returned and was watching us through the window. “You know, I think I will.”
“Can I give you a hug before you leave?”
He looked over at me, and I finally noticed that he was holding back tears. “I don’t think that would be a good idea. Maybe you’ll visit one day, and you can hug me then.” Pace was right, of course, but that didn’t make it any easier when he disappeared in a cloud of smoke and I was left in the clearing alone. I was going to miss him.
Pace hadn’t been gone for all of thirty seconds when I heard Rei call out, “Does this mean we can move to a cave? Huts are nice and all, but it’s much less ideal for my needs.” This man. This man is who I gave up guaranteed happiness for.
“Shut up Rei!”
He obeyed, but leaped through the window and ran at me. I laughed and tried to avoid it, but he caught me and pulled me into him. No words were needed for what he wanted to say. His eyes said it all.
“Can you wait until I finish going through the forms?” A tug at the back of my shirt was answer enough.
What had the god of destiny said? Bliss and contentment, with the demon of chaos it would be mixed with some interesting experiences but I was sure she’d said bliss. I could feel it already.
………………..
I was going to destroy the village, but by the fire was an elder surrounded by children. He looked familiar. I decided to crouch and listen to what he was saying for a few minutes. It wouldn’t change their fate tonight and maybe it would provide some entertainment.
“Children,” the elder said, age making his voice soft as worn leather, “have you heard the story of the demon of chaos?” He looked over where I was hiding in the brush, plants wilting around me.
The children clamored about wanting to hear the story, one claiming it was their favorite one, another saying he’d never told it before.
“Legend says he was created with the realms, which is true. What legend doesn’t tell us is that he was first the demon of poison. He did not become the demon of chaos until much later.
Over a millenia ago, a woman from the mortal realm came to the demon realm on accident. So long ago that there were only the three realms. She was captured by the immortals and imprisoned with the demon of poison.
The two helped each other escape and fell in love. The immortals were angry that they had escaped, and had incidentally them from starting the second great war of Heaven and Hell.
One day, the immortals learned that the love of the demon of poison was the descendent of an exiled leader of Hell, and was the rightful demon queen. She had unlocked her powers and was building the strength of the demon realm. She and the demon of poison had discovered a way to put a barrier around the demon realm to protect it from those who would cause them harm.
Before they could enact the barrier, the army of Heaven attacked.
Many lives were lost, as the army of Hell were stronger but less disciplined. It came down to the demon of poison and the demon queen to protect their home.
When given the choice of wiping out the army of Heaven, and saving the life of her love, the demon queen chose to save him. The demon of poison lived, protected by the power of the demon queen.
In saving him, though, she weakened herself. She was lost, never to be reborn.
The grief of the demon of poison awoke an ancient power within him. He effortlessly destroyed the threat to the demon realm, and his heartbreak was so great he destroyed his own heart as well. With no love left in his soul, he began to use his power to destroy the world that had destroyed his true love.
And so, the demon of chaos was born. Lost to the ways of good and evil, instead mired in his own inner turmoil and hatred.”
The story was well told. In my head I could hear Opal laughing and asking for another. She always had loved storytellers, especially those who told tales of love and heartbreak
Turning away, I kept my eyes on this elder. Our eyes met for a brief moment. His eyes were no less vibrant than the day I met him all those centuries ago. If Opal had chosen him, would she still be alive too? Telling stories to the village children of how things once were?
The children clamored about wanting to hear the story, one claiming it was their favorite one, another saying he’d never told it before.
“Legend says he was created with the realms, which is true. What legend doesn’t tell us is that he was first the demon of poison. He did not become the demon of chaos until much later.
Over a millenia ago, a woman from the mortal realm came to the demon realm on accident. So long ago that there were only the three realms. She was captured by the immortals and imprisoned with the demon of poison.
The two helped each other escape and fell in love. The immortals were angry that they had escaped, and had incidentally them from starting the second great war of Heaven and Hell.
One day, the immortals learned that the love of the demon of poison was the descendent of an exiled leader of Hell, and was the rightful demon queen. She had unlocked her powers and was building the strength of the demon realm. She and the demon of poison had discovered a way to put a barrier around the demon realm to protect it from those who would cause them harm.
Before they could enact the barrier, the army of Heaven attacked.
Many lives were lost, as the army of Hell were stronger but less disciplined. It came down to the demon of poison and the demon queen to protect their home.
When given the choice of wiping out the army of Heaven, and saving the life of her love, the demon queen chose to save him. The demon of poison lived, protected by the power of the demon queen.
In saving him, though, she weakened herself. She was lost, never to be reborn.
The grief of the demon of poison awoke an ancient power within him. He effortlessly destroyed the threat to the demon realm, and his heartbreak was so great he destroyed his own heart as well. With no love left in his soul, he began to use his power to destroy the world that had destroyed his true love.
And so, the demon of chaos was born. Lost to the ways of good and evil, instead mired in his own inner turmoil and hatred.”
The story was well told. In my head I could hear Opal laughing and asking for another. She always had loved storytellers, especially those who told tales of love and heartbreak
Turning away, I kept my eyes on this elder. Our eyes met for a brief moment. His eyes were no less vibrant than the day I met him all those centuries ago. If Opal had chosen him, would she still be alive too? Telling stories to the village children of how things once were?
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