II
-Blancblack Castle-
On the outside, today looked just like any other day in the Garden. The village remained peaceful as always. There was that usual town bustle that went on in it every day; lots of chattering and possibly meaningless babble were all over the place. While this would sound annoying to a normal person, to the residents, this was their exact definition of peace, quiet, and normality.
But for today, that was only for the sake of outer appearances. No, it wasn't because they were actually sad in the inside. In fact, today was actually a day everyone should be up and about, celebrating. Why, you ask?
For today was a special day for all of them, angels and demons alike. This was the day they had all been waiting for ever since the previous Devil had died and the demons were left without a ruler.
The day that a certain pact will be created.
That alone was really good news for everyone, especially the demons. While it's true that some of them have a bad feeling of how this pact would turn out in the end, majority of the residents still believed that this meant a fresh start for all of them. Some of them are starting to speculate about who the new Devil would be. Some, on the other hand, are starting to reveal to others their expectations of whoever their new Devil would be.
Either ways, emotions were really starting to run high that day, they were pretty much a mix of anticipation and anxiety, excitement and dread, and so much more. Like two sides of the same coin. Which, of course, is quite unavoidable.
As the time drew near for the residents to hear the official pact, some of them are now starting to get ready to go to the place where everything important would take place.
And where, you ask?
None other than the Gray Village's castle, Blancblack Castle.
Blancblack Castle was a place that takes up a large amount of space in the Garden. Located to the North of the Gray Village, the castle in itself could serve as a city of some sort in itself; that was how vast it was. The way to the castle itself is quite long, considering how it would actually pass by a lot of miniature gardens that surrounded it.
The first thing one would see there upon arrival is the huge wall that surrounds it; an immense brick wall with pillars that are, in turn, decorated with at least one huge diamond on top that served as a barrier of sorts. In the gap between the walls, one would be greeted by a grand staircase that would lead to a cobblestone path, which, in return, would lead to the only fountain in the castle that bore its name on it, should one pay attention at all. After passing that fountain, one should be able to find the actual entrance of the castle; that is, a huge door with a symmetric diamond pattern for decoration.
Entering this door, you will be led again to another pathway, albeit made of marble. The sides of the path are adorned with pillars that, again, have a diamond atop of it. If one were to pay attention, one would notice that the diamonds were of two colors: black and white. Another thing one would notice is that the castle is seemingly divided into half; whereas while the left half (should one be entering the castle) is decorated with white diamonds, the right half, on the other hand, is decorated with black diamonds.
Going back to the path, it leads again to yet another staircase, albeit smaller than the one seen in the main entrance. On either side of the said staircase, one would be able to find a small door. While it is unknown to some residents what these doors contain, it is said that they actually lead to a miniature garden. How there is a garden inside the castle, no one wishes to know.
This staircase, should one finish climbing it, would lead to two sides of the castle. Technically speaking, whichever side one takes wouldn't really matter, since whatever one side contains, the other side will most likely contain that as well. The only difference would be the color of the diamonds on top of the pillars, as well as the color of each room's furniture, which are found in almost every room you pass by.
Starting from here, the castle has three floors that are open to the public, excluding the park-like entrance. On the first floor of the castle, one would be able to find rooms that seemingly served as a lounge for whoever wanted to pass by. After that, once one enters the second floor, one should be able to find rooms that served as a library of some sort. Each library is managed by either an angel or demon that served the castle. And finally, on the third floor, one would be taken to rooms that contained a seemingly long table. What purpose it served… perhaps for meetings. Either ways, like the first two floors, it was also open to anyone and everyone who meant no harm.
Surely, some residents think that the castle has only four floors.
Wrong.
At the very end of the third floor, there would be only one staircase in the middle that would lead to the very top of the castle, unlike the other floors, which had at least a narrow staircase on either side of the floor. This place is only reserved for trusted attendants, important visitors, those who have been summoned by God and those who have special permission from either the Head Angel or his subordinates.
Once one reaches the end of that single staircase, one would be greeted by, yet again, a diamond-patterned door… although this time, it seems slightly darker, and not to mention, larger than the first door, if not the same in size. On both sides of the door, there is a smaller door. Like the diamonds, they are also color-coded; the one on the left is white, while the one on the right is black. No one knows what these doors may contain, but there are some attendants who claim that those doors are actually the rooms of those who ruled over the Garden. Whether or not that is true, no resident really knows.
But what of the central door? What lies behind it? Well, only a few people know about that. What the residents know, however, is that the room behind it was called 'The Great Hall'.
At this moment, however, something really important is soon to happen behind that door.
Behind that door, at this very moment, God is just there, sitting atop the room, waiting.
Waiting for the arrival of a King.
Meanwhile, in a slightly far-away place within the Garden, a certain newly-elected Devil was starting to prepare his things for his departure for Blancblack Castle. After all, as the new ruler of the Garden, he would have to start living alongside God, as it had been with all the other Devils… though, from the stories he had been told, God's relationships with them didn't go as pleasantly as they should have.
As soon as Kcalb heard of these, he had started praying that he would be different from all of them, that he would actually have a decent relationship with God, regardless of the apparent differences in race and, most likely, beliefs.
May God have at least the least bit of mercy on me, he thought, biting on his lower lip as he looked at himself in the mirror that was present in his room. As he looked at his reflection, he couldn't help but think of why he, of all people, was chosen to be the next king. He didn't really understand it at all. What exactly did they see in me? he thought, his brows furrowing in confusion. As far as he was concerned, all he could see in the mirror was an unsociable, reclusive devil who refuses to even think of the outside world.
They could've just chosen my younger brother—no, that can't be, he's an angel.
The fact that he had an angel for a younger brother made Kcalb wish that he be born as the angel instead. If that had happened, he thought, then maybe I wouldn't have to deal with such a heavy burden. But then again…
"Perhaps this really is unavoidable," he muttered, shaking his head slowly. It was only then that Kcalb had realized that being in the royal family can actually be quite a pain. Back when he was younger, he never really cared about what happened outside of their castle, politically speaking; in fact, he and his younger brother would even make fun of it once in a while. And yet, here he is now, in the very position that he had made fun of before.
Oh, the irony.
If only—
"Brother."
Kcalb's train of thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. He had been so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't notice that someone had already entered his room.
None other than Blancblack Castle's Head Angel, Wodahs.
With apparent difficulty, Kcalb turned away from the mirror to face his younger brother.
"What is it, Wod?" he asked, with a face that reeked of tiredness and lack of enthusiasm. Seeing this, Wodahs' face softened a bit, his eyes showing concern for his brother.
"… Nothing, really. I just wanted to check on you and see if you were ready. Since it's almost time for us to leave," Wodahs replied.
"…" Kcalb remained in silence before finally letting out a heavy sigh.
"I see. Then… just wait for me downstairs," he said. "I'll be there in a moment, I suppose."
Wodahs nodded upon hearing this. "That's good to hear. I'll be taking my leave then," he said, turning around so as to leave the room.
Kcalb was about to go back to facing the mirror, but was again interrupted by his brother's voice calling out to him.
"… Brother."
Not turning away from the mirror this time, Kcalb replied, "…What?"
"I have a small request to make, if you don't mind."
This surprised Kcalb. He knew for a fact that Wodahs didn't really speak out his mind quite often. Kcalb remained silent, still not facing Wodahs.
"…"
"If possible, please remove all nervousness that you have right now, while we haven't left yet."
Kcalb turned to Wodahs in surprise. "How…"
His brother's reaction didn't surprise him at all, not even one bit. Maintaining a straight face, he continued, "I'm your brother. Do you not expect me to at least know how shy you actually are, even with these matters?"
"…"
"…"
"…" Kcalb had no idea what to say at that moment. The silence continued to echo inside that room. Until…
"… fine."
To Wodahs, that was enough of an answer, though by looking at his face, it was obvious that he was still in doubt. "I'll be leaving for real now," he said, as he turned to leave the room, closing the door behind him.
As soon as he had left, Kcalb couldn't help but be dumbfounded for a few moments before finally regaining his train of thought.
"…" Damn you, Kcalb thought, gritting his teeth. Though he can't help but admit that Wodahs was indeed right about that; his socializing skills were embarrassingly low, for a King.
And perhaps I really need to do it, he thought, another heavy sigh escaping his lips. It made him remember what Wodahs had told him yesterday about their God.
Straightening himself up, Kcalb finally put on his black coat, took one last look at his room, and went out to join Wodahs.
In the Great Hall, Etihw remained still, sitting on a chair that floated near the highest window of the room, never uttering a single word. It was very quiet. So quiet to the point that Etihw can actually hear her steady heartbeat loud and clear.
While her whole body was poised, akin to that of how a proper lady sat, her eyes, however, never took themselves off the single white warp slate that lay untouched in the hallway beneath her. The warp slate that she had decided to create just for this moment; yes, she had never done this for other Devils before.
This warp slate was where she expected this new Devil to arrive.
With a deep sigh, Etihw continued to stare at the warp slate intently as she continued to think of what kind of person the King would be.
At the moment, she had quite high expectations of him, whoever he would be. She expected him to be someone strict, extralegal in actions, and someone responsible. Someone who she actually rely on, should any serious problem in the Garden arise.
As much as Etihw wanted these thoughts of hers to come true, at the back of her mind, she was somehow afraid that the King would turn out to be the complete opposite of it all. That the King would be like all the other Kings that had once ruled in the Garden; stubborn, boastful, cocky, all talk… she had seen so much of them that it was all sounding really monotonous to her, as if it was already a ritual within the castle.
But… no, she thought, her lips in a straight line and her eyes devoid of any emotion. I shouldn't think like this. Who am I to doubt the one who is yet to come? One who I hadn't met just yet?
"Such foolish thoughts," Etihw uttered, her expression darkening.
Suddenly, a sound interrupted her thoughts.
Taken by surprise, Etihw blinked twice, looking at the warp slate, or rather, the people beside it. Upon seeing them, Etihw put on the most professional face she could possibly think of.
Finally.
"Lady Etihw."
As he looked up to Etihw, Wodahs began to speak, his hands gesturing to his companion.
"The Devil is here."
Upon hearing this, Etihw looked at Wodahs, before turning to the person he called 'Devil'.
"So…" Etihw began, a small smile forming on her lips.
"We finally meet."
Back at the Gray Village, Yosaflame, along with Sherbet, Cranber, Lost, and Ciel, were already making their way towards Blancblack Castle, along with a lot more residents who were all looking very enthusiastic for what was soon to take place.
As they passed by one miniature garden after another, they conversed with each other casually. Everything was normal, until Sherbet suddenly nudged Yosaflame.
"'Ey, Yosaf," he began, nudging Yosaflame a bit too hard for the latter to not be annoyed by the gesture.
With an annoyed voice, he replied, "What is it, Sherbet?"
"Um… Say…" he began, playing with the edges of his scarf, "have you met this Devil, yourself?"
To this, Yosaflame suddenly looked at Sherbet as if he just asked an extremely stupid question.
"Of course not," he replied, matter-of-factly, "why would you even think that I would?"
"Oh, nothing… just that, uh, well, I figured that since you're quite a frequent summon at the castle, I thought that might've at least met 'im. Or heard of 'im."
Yosaflame shook his head. "Today will be the King's first day at the castle, so of course, no one, not even God, would meet him," he said, adjusting his glasses for a moment before continuing.
"But… now that you mentioned it, I have been hearing bits about him from the attendants."
Now it was Cranber's turn to break some silence. "Ohhh, really?!" she asked excitedly.
"Then… would you mind telling us what you know of him?"
"That could be a good thing to do, y'know," Lost said, turning to Yosaflame.
"Seconded," Sherbet added. "Also, there's still a long way to go before we reach the castle, so yeah, do tell, man."
"…" Ciel remained silent, holding on to Lost's hand the whole time as they all showed their curiosity on the Garden's new Devil. She somehow expected Yosaflame to tell them about what he knew; even she herself admits that she is quite curious about the King as well.
However, Yosaflame shook his head. "No."
"Oh?"
"Huh?"
"Whaaaaaat?" Sherbet said, the impatience apparent in his voice.
"Come on, Yosaf, don't hog the details to yourself!"
"I said no, and that's final," Yosaflame replied, irritated. "I wouldn't want to gossip about the Devil. Besides, you never know; what if the information I have is false? It won't do anyone good, believe me," he explained.
Hearing this, Sherbet was obviously annoyed. "Killjoy."
"Say what you want. I won't change my mind."
"But—"
"Guuuuuuuuuuuys~!"
Just as Sherbet was about to argue with Yosaflame, a familiar, high-pitched voice interrupted them.
The voice came from an angel who, at the moment, was hovering over the walls of the castle.
"I'd hate to interrupt, but… mhmm, it seemed like you didn't notice that you're all here already~"
Yosaflame and the others stopped for a moment to look at the surroundings, and as the angel had said, they were already at Blancblack Castle. Not surprisingly, it was quite packed, which was a rare sight, considering how the castle is usually quiet and empty most of the time.
"Come on in, all of yoooou~!"
Entering the castle along with the others, Yosaflame started scanning his surroundings. As soon as he had finished doing so, he finally managed to grasp what was happening at the moment.
The pact had been made.
