ShuAnn Week 2021
Day 2: Vacation/International/Honeymoon
The demon lord of Pandemonium is supposed to love bloodshed, conquest and chaos, revelling in all that is cruel and dark in the world. They're supposed to be strong, domineering and intimidating, the absolutely image of fear. They are known throughtout the land as the most powerful demon in hell, and anyone foolish enough to incur their wrath were doomed to death, if they didn't decide to torture the imbeciles for the rest of their days.
So Demon Lord Ren could only stare as in his hand was a letter from the queen of faeries, accepting his offer of peace.
When he had sent out all the offers to the other kingdoms, empires and such, he had already prepared a second batch to send afterwards, along with gifts from his homeland that were relatively appropriate for what he knew of their respective recipients, and a third batch to send after that that offered that he would come meet their respective rulers in their own territories.
So he felt it was entirely reasonable to just stare at the letter that had been a reply to his first batch, which merely asked if they could arrange a meeting to, well, meet each other in his castle.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd ask if you just got a love letter from your crush."
Ren startled and looked to see his little sister and emissary, Akira, giving him an amused grin. The demon rolled his eyes good naturedly and said,
"Ha ha, very funny, Aki."
"Heh heh... Seriously though, she accepted, right? I told you she would."
At that, Ren couldn't help but look over the letter again.
Dear Demon Lord Ren Amamiya,
I would be happy to accept your offer. It surprised me to see an invitation from a demon lord, but if you offer peace, then I am willing to discuss it with you. I will be available by the next moon, will you be free by then? I can arrive in Pandemonium if so.
From,
Faerie Queen Takamaki
"Yes. Yes she did. She says she'll be free by next moon," he said. "She even wants to come here."
"Really? She wants to come here?"
"Yes."
"Hmmm, I'm guessing there's a 'but' though," his sister said.
Ren sighed and bumped his head against the back of his chair. Of course she could guess that.
"I was expecting them all to decline anyway. That's why I said I wanted to meet them in here instead of actually going into their territories, their home turf, to show that I'm serious about this peace," he said. "Not this! What are all the other nations going to think?"
"Well when you put it like that, just means she's serious about peace too."
Ren opened his mouth to retort...then shut it.
That...was a good point.
Of course Aki knew that and grew smug about it.
He just rolled his eyes and said, ignoring her look,
"Then prepare the castle for next moon. I have a reply to send."
Thankfully Aki didn't push further than a snicker and said, "Got it, Big Bro!"
Then she left his office to do as he asked. Ren, meanwhile, took his wyvern quill pen and began to write.
Dear Faerie Queen Takamaki,
I shall keep the next moon of my schedule free for your arrival then. I will also prepare the castle for you, unless you prefer somewhere closer to the border. Either an outpost or a village is fine if that is that case, though the outpost would be preferable, for the safety of us both. Whatever your choice, I look forward to it.
Signed,
Demon Lord Ren Amamiya
"No, no, the torches should be arranged like this..." Ren said, frowning as he directed with his hand, until he noticed something. "And don't put the weapons here! Who put the weapons back in the foyer?!"
"It was him, milord!" one of the demon servants said, pointing to another.
"What?! That was on purpose?!" the accused said.
Ren groaned. Damn demon traditions...
"Put them away now! The faerie queen will arrive any hour now! We can't have her see those!"
"But..."
"No 'buts'! Now!"
"Yes sir!" all the demon servants said before scrambling to clean up the mess that was normally a simple show of the demon lord's strength.
Ren sighed. He could just hear the old fashioned demons shouting at him for being so lax with his servants and for not flaunting his power in his head. Thank the spirits that most of them were too disgruntled over a foreign queen coming to the castle to be here to greet her. The last thing he needed was them making a bad impression on her.
A snicker to his side made him glare at Aki.
"Is this your fault?" he said.
"Ha ha, as much as I'd like that, nope," she said. "I told the head butler what you wanted, so I'm pretty sure he was just the new servant trying to gain more favor by doing you one."
Ren grumbled. "Greeaaaat..."
"Oh come on, Big Bro," Aki said, elbowing him lightly. "Just means the servants like you, is all."
"I would have preferred they listened to the head butler..."
His sister laughed again...before suddenly shoving him out of the foyer.
"What the?! Aki! What are you—"
"Hey, don't worry. I'll handle this," she said, serious despite her cheer. "You just go and calm down then get ready. Can't have our demon lord looking like a mess after all."
He sighed, allowing himself to be pushed outside by her. "I know, I know. You're right. It's just..."
They stopped right at the steps as Aki said, "Like I said, don't worry about that. I get it. You want this to work. Now go and relax. I'll see you in a an hour or two."
He smiled at his sister, grateful, and said, "Thanks, Aki."
She smiled back. "No problem, Big Bro."
With that, she left and Ren let out another sigh before he made his way down the garden.
Despite the rusty red rock that surrounded his castle, the garden before it was filled with life, thanks to the efforts of him, Aki, and his step-mother. Between the paths were flowers of various kinds, from asphodals to hydrangeas, painting a landscape of royalty with white, purple and gold, the garden about as large as the castle itself. However, his favorite part of it, which he was headed for, were alcoves somewhat hidden in the sides of the outside walls. In there was where the most colors in the whole castle were, if not in the entirety of Pandemonium, for Ren had planted roses of all colors there, even quite a few imported ones that he had managed to scrape with their limited trading deals.
Call him human for liking roses the most, especially red ones, but Aki called him a romantic for a reason.
But another reason he loved it was that few came here. After all, most demons cared little for such easily destroyed things, especially when it's associated with concepts other than conquest. As such, even if it wasn't the most private place in the world, only the servants and his family ever even came close to this spot, and so it became his preferred place to relax. But when he got there...
Ren stared.
...there was a woman who was neither family nor servant there.
She wore a black cloak that covered most of her body, leaving him unable to see her attire, her outstretched arm bare save the save for the red bracelet of braided strings on her wrist. Both that and her cloak contrasted with her pale skin. But what contrasted even more was her hair, so pale blonde it looked more like shining platinum, and her eyes, bright and clear blue, like the skies above other nations. Most captivating of all though was her smile, warm and soft as she gently caressed the flowers that littered the alcove, like she knew how precious they were to him.
She was truly enchanting.
And then the woman turned all of that towards him and his heart just stopped as the smile, after a brief moment of surprise, got wider and more amused.
"Oh hi there," she said. "Sorry for not noticing."
Ren shook his head slightly to get rid of his daze before he cleared his throat and said,
"No problem. It's not like I spoke up or anything."
The woman giggled and he had to remind himself he was a grown demon and not one of those silly human boys in the silly stories he read—oh who was he kidding. He was like those boys in the human stories his mother had who were head over heels with some girl they just met. His cheeks stung and his heart sped up at the laugh that he managed to cause, just like those boys. But curse the spirits, how could he not with that smile of hers?
In a vain attempt to distract himself from that, he said,
"Do you like the roses?"
And he was glad he did as her eyes and smile, if it was even possible, brightened while she turned back towards them.
"Oh I love them. I know there are some plants that grow in Pandemonium, but I didn't expect to see these beauties here," she said.
He smirked and unconsciously puffed up his chest. "Well I'm glad you do. I did plant them after all," he said.
Her surprise returned as she looked at him again. "You did?" she said.
"Well, with some help from my mother and sister, but essentially yes," Ren said, his tone good-natured posturing like the typical arrogance of demons.
As he hoped, the enchanting woman laughed. "I see," she said, eyes shining with mirth. "That explains why the flowers absolutely love it here despite the conditions."
Ren raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Oh? You can speak to the roses?"
"Less speak and more feel, but yes, I can. I can do that with all plants."
"I see... So what do these flowers feel about me then?"
She smiled. His heart did a backflip.
"Oh they enjoy your company and care," she said. Then that smile turned mischeivous. "Though they agree with your mother in that you're a drama queen."
Ren mocked gasped and held his chest in feigned hurt.
"How rude!" he said "I am a drama king, not a queen!"
Once again, she laughed at his words, before she said, slightly smug but most definitely amused, "So you admit to being overdramatic?"
He returned it and said, "I am just the right amount of dramatic."
Another laugh and a shake of her head. "Ha ha. If you say so."
Unbidden, his smile quivered and memories of taunts and jeers from peers calling him "flimsy" and "weak" for his behavior came to the forefront and he couldn't help but say, unable to keep the slight fear in his voice,
"Does that disatisfy you, milady?"
The lady blinked, surprised, and Ren knew she noticed. He tensed, ready for derision and pain like his memories provided, but instead he was greeted with a warm and soft smile, like when she was caressing his roses, and she said,
"Well, I cannot say it wouldn't exasperate me at times, but no, it doesn't disatisfy me."
And he let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding until that moment.
"I'm glad to hear that," he said and he meant it.
Before any more conversation could be had however, another woman said,
"There you are!"
And both he and the blonde woman turned to see a similarly blacked cloaked woman, but one who had black hair instead of the first woman's near-platinum.
"Oh Shi—uh, Suzui!" the blonde woman said.
"Suzui" sighed and said, "Don't run off like that again. Seesh..."
The blonde chuckled sheepishly. "I couldn't help it. There were quite exquisite flowers asking for an audience."
Another sigh from Suzui but this time with a shake of her head. "Sorry about...her..." she said, trailing off once she actually saw him.
Ren laughed and waved it off. This must be quite the regular occurence for this Suzui and blonde woman.
"It's fine," he said. "We were just having a fun conversation."
"You mean an overly dramatic one," the blonde cloaked lady said, expression tinkling with mischief.
He returned it with equal force. "I try my best, milady."
"This is exactly what I mean!" she said, in good spirits despite her words.
But, once again, Suzui interupted them with a chuckle. "All right. I think I get it. But we should really be going."
"Must we, Suzui? I'm sure I can spare a few more minutes."
"Oh I'm sure you'll see each other again. Now come."
"Huh?" both he and the lady said.
But before any clarifications could be asked or done, Suzui pulled her away and, just like that, they were gone. Ren couldn't help but stare and blink. It almost seemed as if they did disappear. It was then did he realize something.
He didn't ask how did she get here.
"Curses!"
Before he could rectify that, the horns of the castle blew off, signalling the arrival of a visitor, no doubt faerie queen Takamaki. He knew he shouldn't be so frustrated, after all this was what he wanted, but still, what "perfect" timing. He wasn't even dressed properly. Thus, Ren resorted to hoping Aki occupied the guests long enough as he used his talismans to teleport to his room, change into attire more appropriate to recieve a monarch, and used them again to end up on the floor above the foyer. After a double check on his clothes, hair and horns, he took a deep breath and stepped out onto the landing.
"My apologies for not greeting you when you entered, milady, but..." he said then stared.
Down there, in the foyer and without their cloaks, was a smug and amused Suzui, a laughing and hysterical Aki and an equally wide-eyed and familiar blonde.
Otherwise known as Faerie Queen Takamaki.
Well uh...
Ren's brain was too mushed to think too hard on that.
Dear Faerie Queen Takamaki,
I am Demon Lord Ren Amamiya, the ruler of the land of demons, Pandemonium, more commonly known as Hell by other nations. I formally invite you to our lands to have an audience with you in hopes of opening trade between our nations and perhaps even forming a peaceful alliance. If possible, even allowing travel between them eventually. I have asked the other nations the same as well for the same reasons. You may visit whenever you are able to do so.
Your truly,
Demon Lord Ren Amamiya
That was what the letter said when she had opened it in front of the Council of Elders, sent through the emmisary from Pandemonium. It was a strange looking demon who, thankfully for her, introduced herself as just Aki, the demon lord's step sister. The letter was short, simple and made her advisers erupt in the loudest debate they've had in a long time, and it probably would've been longer if she had actually spoke his full name out loud. It took quite a bit of calming down from her, with a little help from the demon. Of course, when they did, they were quite wary over the demon lord, the "warmongering ruler" of a "warmongering race", offering a peaceful alliance and not coming to conquer and colonize them...again.
Ann didn't blame them. That had been the truth for a long time. But...
"Our border with them has been peaceful lately," she had said, and more, pointing out that it could be true considering everything that had been done.
No border skirmishes with Pandemonium and if there were, there would be another demon party to stop the offenders and apologize for them. Any faeries that had the misfortune of crossing over that border were merely escorted back. And now, this letter with but a single emissary, and one who clearly held no animosity or prejudice towards them, not even once trying to incite a fight. In fact, she would respond in kind to the more fanciful behaviors of their people.
And so, here she was, a moon later in the castle of Pandemonium's capital with Shiho by her side and the demon lord in front of her.
To say the least, she should've known that was why Shiho said she and the "mysterious demon" would "meet again".
They both stared at each other for who knew how long when they met again and realized their respective identities, until Shiho and Aki snapped them out of it, both absolutely amused. Before she could get embarrassed for her behavior, the demon lord suggested they rest after a long trip but after that surprise, she was much too energetic to put it off any longer. Thankfully Amamiya agreed to her request and they were soon in a hall she assumed was used for conferences and such even if its grand size and long table equally fit for a place to hold a feast. And well...
She was surprised at how easy the talk went, even if it was just preliminary discussions and no formal agreements.
She would've suspected he was scheming something if it weren't for the fact that the garden absolutely adored him and that he would argue with her for the sake of his country, like the safety of his citizens. But the main point was that he would ask for clarifications on some of the things she said and asked if there's anything he needed to do to address them. So, by the end, it was decided he would come to Tir-na-nog to speak with the Council of Elders.
Admittedly she could just decide then and there if they would be allies. She held absolute power. The Council of Elders were just advisers that held no authority to veto her. Only Shiho did as Guardian, as the head of military affairs and public safety. But it was hard to not have respect for the former monarchs of Tir-na-nog and Amamiya offered going to Tir-na-nog to speak with any other officials that needed to be spoken with. Seeing how worried the elders had been,
It had absolutely nothing to do with wanting to show him her home.
"Well, with that settled, I would once again suggest you rest..." the demon lord said. "But I have a suspicion you still don't want to do that."
Ann chuckled, the embarrassment of earlier resurfacing. "No, I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I'm just merely making sure you don't exhaust yourself. I don't exactly know how tired you are, after all," he said with a small smile.
Ann mirrored it and said, "It's fine. Thank you for your concern."
"Well. If that's the case...then would you perhaps be interested in a tour of the castle?"
"I would love to," she said easily.
She ignored the look Shiho gave her as she followed Demon Lord Amamiya out of the audience hall, him explaining a bit of the history of his castle, though Ann found it hard to pay close attention. The hallways weren't much different from the foyer. Tall and wide, making her feel like she was in a canyon. There were no windows on the walls, instead it was torches, except instead of flames, there were glowing gems that still lit the area as if it was actually fire. And most of all, other demons scuttled about, servants she assumed from how well put their attire was. Each and every one would greet the demon lord and his sister Aki when they passed, and the two would greet them back. They would also say hello to her and Shiho as well, but she was a bit worried about something.
Which Amamiya seemed to notice as he said,
"Is something bothering you, Queen Takamaki?"
She really had to not be so obvious. But since she was "caught", she said,
"I just merely noticed the demons don't meet my eyes. I'm worried they're scared of me." Or you, she left unsaid.
The demon lord smiled in embarrassment and said, "Ah that. Don't worry. They're just being polite. You usually look directly into another's eyes when you want to challenge them."
"Oh, I see," she said, surprised but glad it wasn't anything terrible.
It was then they passed a large ornate door, carvings of demons in various poses on it, that was open and Amamiya said,
"Ah, the training grounds." He chuckled. "As the name suggests, this is where any of the demons in the castle can practice their fighting techniques or just exercise."
Here Ann looked to see that, yes, there was a large open space in the center where several demons were doing just that, while on the sidelines were others chatting or taking care of the various weapons and such stacked around the area. Though some of those demons seemed to have noticed their arrival and began paying attention to them.
Meanwhile, hers to turned to Aki as she said, gesturing to hallways on the other side of the grounds,
"You can also reach the castle's arena from here."
"You have an arena?" Ann said.
Though now that she did, it would make sense from what she knew of demons. But considering how kind Amamiya and his sister were being, she didn't really like the thought of assuming anything.
Especially as the demon lord said, "Well I personally would've preferred it was at least elsewhere, but it's been here for as long as the castle has existed. I'd feel bad about repurposing it."
And Aki said, with a cheeky grin, "That and that most of the citizens would be probably rebel for desecrating a historical place."
"Lots of important fights happened there?" Shiho asked.
"Of course. It's where the Challenge Ceremony's held."
"Challenge Ceremony?"
"It's how demon lords are chosen and how they keep their position."
"Huh. So you don't have anyone pick to pick the leader?" her best friend said, glancing at him.
The golden horned demon shook his head. "No, not at all," he said. "Most demons value strength and grooming above all else, especially the warriors. There's no chance they would follow anyone who can't meet those qualities."
Ann stared at him. "Grooming?"
The demon lord's sister snickered. "Surprised?"
Ann then realized she slipped and easily came off as someone who thought of demons as dirty messes, so she said, "Ah, I mean—"
But got cut off as both Amamiyas laughed at her stumbling.
Then Aki said, her cheeky grin back, "Nah, it's fine. We know lots of people are surprised demon warriors look so pretty."
And she pouted and grumbled. She was worried she had offended them but it turned out to be a joke? She almost wanted to wrap them in vines or something.
Of course Shiho leaned in and said, softly, "Who's the faerie now?"
Ann cleared her throat and ignored her Guardian before she said,
"I see then. I'm still sorry for possibly offending you."
Amamiya chuckled again but then said, "Like Aki said, it's fine. We just wanted to have a little fun."
Ann couldn't help but pout and say, "Well it's not funny making fun of me when I'm trying my best not to be accidentally rude."
And once again she mentally slapped herself for being so honest with a potentially dangerous enemy, but it was hard not to when he looked like a sad puppy when he said,
"Ah, yes, good point. I'm sorry. Perhaps you would like to spar then?"
The faerie queen just smiled back and said, "No thank you, I'm fine."
And she only had a moment to notice his flinch before Pandemonium lived up to its name.
"How dare you!" one demon said.
"You refused the demon lord?!" another said.
"How about facing me, you weakling?!" yet another said.
That and more were thrown at her, combining into a tumultous cacophony. Shiho moved in front of her, ready to defend her, but then Amamiya said,
"ENOUGH!"
And just as quick as the outrage had burst, it stopped, but the searing glares and rage trembling forms still remained, looking right at her. They wanted to challenge her.
"But—" one more said.
"But nothing," Demon Lord Amamiya said, all the warmth in his voice gone. "I already told you all to forgive any grievances the faerie queen may make when she comes here. This is the first time any outsiders has had any significant and peaceful meeting with us. There will be misunderstandings." He met each and every offended demons' gazes. "So I hope you understand that."
With that, all the agitated demons in the training grounds bowed their heads in shame, all of them saying their apologies.
Ann, however, said,
"No, I'm sorry for all of this."
And everyone, save Shiho, looked at her with surprise.
"Even if I meant no insult, that doesn't change the fact that I did," she said, because if they were going to these lengths to be courteous to her, she could only do the same. "So, if you'll let me, I wouldn't mind sparring with you."
The golden horned demon lord was the first to break his stupor, looking at her with concern as he said,
"I don't mind, but...are you sure? You did just arrive."
She nodded and said, staring right into his eyes like he had mentioned before, "I'm sure."
And, after a moment of surprise, she was rewarded with the smile he had when they first met.
"Very well," he said. "After you, milady."
She was glad she asked for it because it had been quite some time she's let loose, if ever, not holding back against the demon lord even if it was a simple spar. Even if she was a bit embarrassed about it in the end. She...hadn't meant to scorch and melt a lot of the training ground, or have the demon lord destroy a lot of it.
Much to Shiho and Aki's smug amusement and the demon warriors' astonishment.
Ren did his best to keep a straight face and look at Faerie Queen Takamaki's face.
The queen in question laughed sheepishly at his look.
"I guess the warning wasn't enough, was it?" she said.
"It's...fine," he said, still focusing on her face and not allowing his eyes to wander at all.
"I can cover up if you want," the beautiful lady said.
"Thank you for the concern, but I promise I'll get used to it," he said.
And he would, because Takamaki had the courtesy to warn him about it, unlike him unfortunately. Not only that, she tried to adapt to his country when she visited, so he would do the same. Even if it was rather mortifying to see faeries...hardly wore anything. Which explained why the Faerie Queen and her Guardian wore cloaks when they visited. In fact some would be outright naked, but those often had plant life covering them, making it seem like they had clothes and thus making actual clothes pointless within their realm. Thankfully, Takamaki happened to fall in a more "conservative" territory, as though her attire still showed plenty of skin, it at least covered the "important parts" pretty well.
It still made it hard to not have his brain melt into mush though.
"Okay, if you're sure..." the monarch said.
Though he did have one question he needed answered because the possible answer would be even more mortifying.
"As long as I don't have to take off my clothes," he said.
He had already went with as little clothing as he could possibly stand, which was a sleeveless tunic, black pants and the trusty horn sheaths.
The faerie queen blinked. "Oh, no. Most of my people understand that much."
He couldn't help it, he let out a sigh of relief and slumped. "Thank the spirits..."
Takamaki giggled and said, "All right then, let's get going."
Ren straightened and followed the monarch. Now that the discussion of his embarrassment was out of the way, he couldn't help but look at the place. Though it was called the Grand Hall of the Faeries, it was less a building and more a conglomeration of trees that happened to look like one. As such, the "walls" were more like cage bars of thick branches. The floor was similar, with plenty of gaps in it, but was also uneven like an uncharted forest path. All of that allowed him to see the colorful and lush plant life in and outside the place. It was almost like someone spilled paint across all the green of varying shades.
But they weren't the only ones in the hall as they climbed up the branch made stairs. There were faeries going about, looking and pointing and winking at them, no doubt curious about him but making no move to get closer to find out.
The reminder made him say,
"Is there anything else I should know?"
Takamaki glanced back at him curiously.
"Anything else?"
"About anything that I should know about faeries so that I don't offend them." Then he said, unable to help it, "I wouldn't want to have what happened in Pandemonium happen to me."
As he expected, the monarch stopped just to glare and smack him on the shoulder. He laughed as she said,
"I already apologized for that!"
He calmed his mirth but still smiled as he said,
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I am serious about wanting to know."
The faerie queen sighed, exasperated, but still answered.
"Well, for now, just be very respectful to any elders you meet, including the Council," she said.
"Okay."
"Don't take anything that seems like flirting too seriously because that's usually just how we greet each other."
Faeries...flirted in greeting...?
"Okay..."
"And don't ask for full names. It's very rude, especially with strangers."
Here, he stared. That...was unusual. But then again, it might be the equivalent of a stranger of any kind touching a demon's horn, so Ren just said,
"Okay."
Takamaki hummed as she pondered on any more.
"Yeah, I think that should do for now. We're here after all," she said.
And Ren was startled to see proper doors in front of him, along with proper, if obvious tree branch made, walls around it. It almost reminded him of the doors to the training area and arena back at his castle, with its tall height, aged wood and carvings of what he assumed was either the faerie native tongue or just symbols of the culture.
"Ready?" Takamaki said, looking to her.
Ren double checked his attire and horn sheaths.
He nodded. "Yes."
With that, the two entered and well...
"Hello everyone, our guest is here," the faerie queen said.
Silence.
...even if Takamaki hadn't told him about the usual greetings of faeries, it was pretty easy to tell the Council of Elders weren't exactly welcoming of him with their flat gazes, if not outright glares on some of them, and sour expressions.
Still, he would try to appease. He wanted this to work, for both his and Takamaki's sake.
He cleared his throat and was about to stomp in formal demon greeting, but decided against it.
So he just said, "It's a pleasure to meet you all. I am Demon Lord Ren Amamiya and—"
"Amamiya!" Takamaki said.
He looked to see the queen shocked.
"What?"
"When I said 'don't ask for full names' I meant yours too!"
Ren froze.
He snapped his head to he see the Council were either giving him death glares or scandalized looks.
He bowed as deep as he could and said, "I'm so sorry! I didn't realize that it applied to other beings as well!" But as soon as he did, he frowned at himself. "Though that isn't an excuse and you probably won't consider this much of an apology if you believe me that is but know I had meant no offense and that I really am sorry for any offe—"
Ren startled as the council laughed.
He felt anger, confusion, embarrassment and hurt at that, the situation reminding him too much of his younger years. With his defenses down, he couldn't stop himself saying, all those emotions put into his trembling voice,
"If you're going to mock me, than at least do it with words."
And that made them stop their laughter and made him realize he likely said something to bother them, again.
Great.
"Uh, I mean—" he said, hoping to smooth things over so they'd at least be cordial to each other.
But to his shock, not only did they give him amused and apologetic smiles, one of them said,
"No, I believe it is us who should be apologizing for that. Like you, we meant no offense. We were just surprised. Isn't that right everyone?"
The others besides her agreed with a nod, and then one laughed briefly before speaking in the faerie tongue.
Ren thought he was mocking him when the first who spoke said, "Yes indeed, we never thought we'd see the day where a demon would apologize to us." Then she turned to him and continued. "We weren't quite sure what to think or do when you did, you see. So I offer my apologies on behalf of everyone for offending you, Demon Lord, when you have already apologized for your offense."
Ren let his shoulders relaxed as he sighed. Then he stood up straight and gave a slight bow.
"Then I shall accept your apology, Council of Elders," he said.
Because now he had his chance back to ally with this kingdom.
"So, we heard from our queen that you wished to trade with us, yes?"
"Indeed."
"As well as other nations?"
"Yes, that is the case."
"Then would you give us your reasons for it?"
So he did. It was the simplified version, yes, but nonetheless he told him of his wish that his nation wouldn't need for conquest should they have access to goods and such from other nations, and once they had no need to take resources from others by force, they could peacefully coexist with the other nations. They could even form alliances to help each other and learn from each other.
"And after meeting your queen, Takamaki," he said, glancing at the faerie in question. "I wish even more for this dream to be a reality, not just for my own people, but for yours as well."
With that, he awaited their judgement. He could only hope they would agree.
There was a moment of contemplation as the various council members gave each other looks. Then the one in the center of them all, the only faerie who seemed to speak Common, said,
"Our queen?"
"Yes?"
"May we have a word with you?"
And Ren felt his heart jump up his throat, fearing he had messed something up. But all he could do was keep up his mask as Takamaki and the Council of Elders left the grand room and into another actual door at the far right. Once they were gone, that was when he allowed himself to fidget. He hoped he hadn't done anything wrong again. Was it something in his posture? A word he said in common that was offensive in the faerie tongue? How he avoided the eyes of the elders out of the habits of his culture? More and more of these questions and worries kept coming as more and more time stretched.
So of course he jumped when that back door opened and out came a red faced Takamaki.
Ren frowned and stepped closer to her, checking if she had any injuries as he said,
"Are you okay, Takamaki?"
"U-Uh, yeah! I'm fine! Don't worry about it," she said, looking anything but fine. But then she continued. "Anyways, the trading and alliance is a go. All we need to do now is work out what we're actually going to now that we're going to allow trade between our countries."
Once again, Ren sighed and slumped. "Thank the spirits..." But then he blinked and looked at her incredulously. "Wait, really?"
Takamaki smiled brightly and said, "Yup. We can get to working right away."
Ren returned it and said, "Then thank you, and your council, for accepting, Takamaki."
"The pleasure's all mine, Amamiya," she said.
He tried to ignore his heart speeding in favor of starting on their plans.
Ann grumbled, trying to get the council's words out of her head, but of course, even if it has been several weeks since them and it wasn't a spell that kept it in her mind, it still remained.
"If you decide to pursue him, you have our blessings."
Ann groaned and thudded her head against the carriage wall.
"Hey, if you look like that when we get there, you're not going to make a good impression on the demon traders."
Ann glared at her best friend who was smug from knowing very well what plagued her. So she didn't bother giving her a reply, ignoring her as their ride continued.
"Oh come on, Ann, don't be like that. You'll be seeing Amamiya again. I'm sure he would be worried to see you frowning," Shiho said, still cheeky yet feigning innocence.
Ann glared again and this time her best friend did nothing to disguise her joy at messing with her, laughing at her expression instead of being cowed by it.
"Shiho...please... I'm gonna have enough to deal with as it is..."
She was, after all, going to act as one of the interpreters for the faerie merchant caravan she was travelling with, the first ever to go into demon territory. She was one of the few faeries who learned common, another of which sat before her.
"All right, all right, I won't actually try teasing you," Shiho, thankfully, said. Though she added, "But seriously, why don't you try courting him? I know you want to."
Well, Ann wouldn't deny that, but... "I can't really do that right now, can I? We only just finished the trading agreements and are supervising the first trade. I can't just throw in what'll look like a political courtship in the mix right now."
"My point still stands. I never said anything about doing it now after all."
Ann groaned and said, "Never mind."
Her Guardian chuckled but, thankfully for Ann's sanity, they had arrived at their destination. It was a demon town relatively close to the border between Pandemonium and Tir-na-nog called Setenjayel, and Ann...couldn't help but stare. While paling in comparison to the lands and towns of Tir-na-nog, the little town was a lot mote colorful than she expected when the border was mostly just a dark brown or outright black rocky landscape. There were trees that, upon closer inspection, were large cacti, many of them with blooming flowes. The houses were made of stone of all kinds, but they were so polished and gleaming it was as if they were jewels. The streets were laid with white rocks of all shapes and kinds, making it easy to spot from a distance. And all around there were demons, large and small, young and old, wandering around or staring at them.
"Do you like the town?" a familiar voice using a familiar phrase said.
And she turned to see the demon lord proud and smiling at her, just like when they first met.
She smiled back and said, "Yes, yes I do."
His own got wider and Ann felt warm as he said, "Good. It'll make me feel better to know at least one of us likes it."
Ann frowned at his words. "Is one of your merchants complaining?"
But Amamiya just laughed good-naturedly and said, "Don't worry. It's just someone who wants the best so he wants a good place to show off their wares. There shouldn't be any problems regarding the location."
"Phew..."
"Shall we start then?"
"Right."
From there, they went into the center of the town, Shiho and the faerie caravan following her. At the town square, there were various carts parked with many kinds of wares, from jewelry and construction stone to meats and fruits that she knew weren't in Tirnanog. And much like the sharply dressed demon lord, all the demon merchants that stood near their carts and stands were dressed just as clean and stylish, as opposed to the ones she assumed were the townspeople, who had much plainer clothing. Right before the square itself stood the familiar figure of Aki who noticed their approach.
"Everyone!" she said, becoming the center of attention. "Faerie Queen Takamaki and her caravan have arrived! After they settle, we shall begin the trade. Once we begin, come to me and Guardian Suzui or Demon Lord Ren Amamiya and Faerie Queen Takamaki for faerie-demon interpretation."
For a brief moment, Ann was surprised that she and Amamiya were paired off but she didn't have time to dwell on it. She had to interpret between the faeries and demons alongside Amamiya and they were all eager to see what they could trade. Which was good, because even if it was tiring to translate as quickly as possible for the very excited ones, the ones they handled were very open and quick to settle on a suitable trade. However, that wouldn't be the case for long.
There was shouting from the other side of the square in demon tongue, which was followed by an offended faerie shouting back. Ann didn't see how, but that led to many of the merchants on both sides get involved in a scuffle, some demons trying to stop other demons and the some faeries doing the same alongside the guards on both sides they brought. Aki tried to stop it before it escalated to that point but she was making sure none of the merchants harmed the civilians. So of course, there was only one way to stop them before anyone, both the instigators and innocents, got hurt.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" both she and Amamiya said.
Their respective powers flared around them before the demon lord forcibly seperated all those locked together while she directed her flames between said "combatants" to keep them seperated. Ann eyed all of them to see if any would attempt to walk through her violet flames. But when she found none, she turned to the rest, the ones who weren't part of the scuffle.
"Is everyone all right?" she said while Amamiya appeared beside her, solidifying his previously shadow form.
"No one injured here!" Aki said.
"Or here!" Shiho said.
With those answers, Amamiya glared at the combatants and said, "Now...shall we discuss what happened?"
The reactions of the demons varied. Some justified their actions, others were ashamed, and yet others wished they could've stopped the escalation. The faeries, ironically, were exactly the same in their own variance.
"Silence!" Amamiya said and the guilty demons listened.
When the offending faeries didn't, she glared and said, "And all of you as well."
Only then was everything silent save her flames, the winds and the breathing of everyone. After waiting for a few moments, she and Amamiya shared a look and she nodded for him to start. After a returning nod, he said to his trapped people,
"I know the faerie that started this all looked right in your eyes as if in challenge while asking for a lower bargain, but as I have already told you before they arrived, they will do that not to ask for a duel, but simply because it is normal in their homeland."
One of the demons, the one who started it all, made to protest but then Amamiya said,
"I will not tolerate any of this. We are warriors, not monsters. With this, you are reflecting badly of me and our people and jeopardizing not only Pandemonium's relationship with Tir-na-nog, but the safety of the civilians in this town." The demon lord narrowed his eyes. "When this is over, I will make sure all those guilty will be punished accordingly for their transgressions."
With that, the ones who weren't too pleased stayed silent, but the faeries who were just as offended turned smug.
So it was her turn to worsen her glare and say, "I will do the same for those involved as well." She briefly allowed herself to relish the startled faces of the prideful before she continued. "I have told you all much the same on how to be courteous to them so that you would be patient and that this very situation wouldn't happen."
Luckily for her, only one or two faeries were obviously begrudging about the resolution while the rest contemplated on their actions.
After a brief sweep on all those trapped and those who weren't, she looked at Amamiya as she prepared to douse her flames. At his nod, she snapped her fingers and the violet fires vanished. With that out of the way, all the guards, both demons and faeries, checked for injuries and made a few inquiries.
"All those who particpated will be questioned by Guardian Suzui and her soldiers and General Amamiya and hers for later judgement. The rest of the merchants will continue their business," the demon lord said. "Peacefully."
All of the merchants who hadn't been part of the incident fervently nodded before moving into a sort-of line so that she and Amamiya could continue interpreting for the demon-faerie trades. Meanwhile, Aki and Shiho gave their affirmation that they would handle the rest of the group and lead them outside the town. Only then did Ann allow herself to relax and breath a sigh of relief.
"You okay?" Amamiya said.
She blinked, surprised he still stood beside her. "Ah, yeah, more or less," she said.
He gave a sympathetic smile as he then said, "Good, because we unfortunately still have work to do."
Now Ann sighed again for a completely different reason.
"I know, don't worry," she said.
The demon lord now properly smiled, soft and warm. "Very well. Shall we?"
She nodded and began to follow him...until she noticed something.
"You're hurt," she said, staring at the slight amount of blood dripping from his left horn.
The demon lord was startled but then followed her gaze. "Oh that," he said, as if it was nothing. "Well, yes, but don't worry about it. That's what the sheaths are for after all."
Ann frowned. "Not if they look like that."
Because she doubted a sheath's supposed to be leaking blood.
"Here, let me heal it," she said and moved to do so.
For some reason, the demon lord backed away and said,
"Wait, Takamaki, you don't have to—"
But she managed catch his right horn, which made him freeze in his tracks, letting her pull the sheath over his left one just enough to see the wound. When she did, she then put her hand over it and focused her magic to heal it. Thankfully her healing magic worked on demon wounds so it was fixed in no time. Once she was done, she smiled and pulled down the horn sheath as she backed away.
"There. See? That wasn't so bad," she said.
But it was only then did she notice Amamiya was blushing like crazy...
...and that every single demon, merchants, townspeople and all, were staring at them.
Oh no.
She chuckled nervously and said, "I uh...did something again, didn't I?"
"Uh...not...exactly...?"
That only worried her more on what could she have possibly done. Amamiya seemed to have noticed that as he said, despite the difficulty in getting it out,
"Touching a demon's horns is, um, uh...usually, uh...done between...uh, lovers..."
Ann froze.
"I'm so sorry!" she said as soon as her mind worked. "I just wanted to heal it! I-I didn't mean to embarass you or anything or uh..."
"Uh, it's fine, it's fine," Amamiya said, reassuring her, but his blush undercut that somewhat. "I'll tell them so that there'll be no misunderstands."
"Y-Yeah, you do that..."
Because as much as a part of her was telling her that he liked it since he wasn't mad about her touching his horns, she had remind herself that they weren't courting.
Though she knew Shiho wished otherwise.
Shiho smiled in amusement.
It was only a few moons since that fateful letter arrived and already there was change in the Grand Hall of Faeries, something that hadn't happened in centuries. There were several new rooms added, all of them housing new faeries in new positions that Ann made to delegate the new duties they needed now that their kingdom has begun opening its borders, like the Wanderer, head of immigration, and the Trademaster, head of customs. There was also a room being used to teach Common to faeries so that she and Ann would have more time to do other things instead of spending it interpreting between faeries and demons. Like what they were going to do in the newly finished reception room Shiho was in at that moment, where they would be discussing about their alliance as well as alliances with other nations.
Of course Ann insisted it wasn't an excuse to work closely with Amamiya.
But even if she didn't see it that way, an excuse was an excuse and it was always a pleasure watching her best friend and Amamiya work together.
As soon as she thought that, the demon in question arrived in the room and seemed to sigh in relief.
She raised an eyebrow in curiosity, ready to ask the reason for his reaction, but then the demon lord said,
"Hello Suzui. Can I ask you something before Takamaki arrives?"
Though that piqued her interest even more, she decided against prodding and just nodded as she said, "Sure."
But as Amamiya hesitated and shuffled on his feet with a nervous face, she had a feeling on what he would ask.
"Can you tell me any traditions faeries do to court each other?"
And she was right.
Still, she wouldn't be that much of a best friend if she outright told him, even if she wanted to. She had to be extra sure that he was, indeed, a good person for Ann. And to make sure he wasn't solely doing this to impress her with "knowing faerie traditions".
So she said, "Mind telling me why?"
"Uh, well...I'll admit I had originally thought of doing it my way, but then I realized that she might, well, misinterpret my intentions that way."
"You could just tell her you want to court her."
To her amusement—which she kept off her face—Amamiya looked downright upset at the suggestion.
"That just sounds so..."
"So...?"
"Boring," he said, like it was the worst thing in the world. "There's no fun in doing it like that." He suddenly turned worried. "Please don't tell me that's what faeries do to court each other. I would very much like to have my own flair to it."
This time she couldn't stop her amused chuckle as she said, "Why? What were you going to do?"
"Well I was going to give her her favorite sweets from our kingdom as a gift, but I know she might think it's just any normal gift. Then I thought of doing the traditional demon courtship on tackling our intended...until I remembered she wasn't a demon and has no horns."
"Tackling our intended"? Shiho had a suspicion it was more than that because of the "has no horns" bit but when it was put that way, it was probably for the best that he changed his mind.
Even if it would've been hilarious to see.
But him courting Ann their way would be just as good as well.
She smiled. "All right then, I'll tell you."
And she did.
And as she guessed, he looked at her dubiously when she finished.
"Really?" he said.
She smirked. "Really."
"And how am I supposed to do that? I can barely do it normally, much less for courting."
Oh this was going to be good. "I'll tell you more later then."
"Tell him what?"
Both she and Amamiya were startled to see Ann here, but thankfully the demon lord recovered quickly enough to say,
"About some plans for the Pandemonium-Tir-na-nog border. We have more important matters to discuss before that."
"Oh okay. What is it?"
So Amamiya proceeded to tell them that both the Monkey King of the Flower Fruit Mountains and the High King of Midgard had accepted Amamiya's invitations...on the condition that Ann would attend as well. To say the least it amused Shiho greatly that that was the condition of all things. But of course she took the matter seriously despite her feelings on it. After all, if successful, it not only meant an alliance and more trade for Pandemonium, but for Tir-na-nog as well.
Eventually it was decided they would visit the Monkey King first out of the two as winter was setting in on Midgard but it wouldn't at the Flower Fruit Mountains. And between her and Amamiya, she would train him in the traditional faerie courtship while they prepared for the trip to the Monkey King's domain. Thankfully, by the time they did leave, Shiho was confident he would pull it off well. And it was good timing in the end. The Flower Fruit Mountains were rather similar to Tir-na-nog, so full of magic that so many kinds of plants thrived and no seasons seemed to pass, with the high mountains having the added benefit of an amazing view of the sky and even more waterfalls than in all of Tir-na-nog, and her homeland had quite a few of those.
The most picturesque place to start a courtship.
"Hey hey! Welcome to the Flower Fruit Mountain! I'm the Great Sage Under Heaven Monkey King Ryuji!" the monarch himself said.
The literal Monkey King approached them with a large entourage of monkeys and beasts as they arrived at his palace behind a waterfall, greeting them as they stepped off the chariot cloud he sent for them.
"Thanks for giving us a ride, Monkey King," Amamiya said for them.
"Ha ha! No problem. Been wanting to meet you guys for a while now," he said. "So, lemme guess, you're the demon lord? And that's the faerie queen?"
Ann nodded and said, "Yes. It's nice to meet you. I'm sure you know, but I'm Faerie Queen Takamaki."
"Heh heh, like I said, it's me who should be glad! Come on, come in! We'll do all the negotiatin' stuff tomorrow. Right now, we gotta celebrate your arrival!"
His entourage behind him roared in joy before they proceeded to "escort" them to their king's palace. Absolutely no work was done as they got to experience the famous parties of the Monkey King, all cheers, games and food. Before she knew it, it was late into the evening, the party was over and the three of them were taken to their own private huts as lodging. However, when they parted ways Shiho didn't go to sleep. Instead she waited at her lodgings for while and then snuck out. She made sure to take a more covered and off-beat path to where Ann was, her hut on a higher terrace. She didn't want Amamiya to notice her after all.
Someone still did though.
"Huh? Guardian Suzui?" the monkey king himself said.
She looked up to see the monkey king and several other tree top beasts with him.
She motioned shushed him with a gesture of her finger before tilting her head in the general direction of Ann's lodging. The moneky king and his companions grew curious and, unsurprisingly, followed her as she eventually reached a good hiding spot to see the front of Ann's hut, illuminated by the moonlight. They were silent for a while, but when nothing seemed to happen, Monkey King said,
"What's going on?"
"You'll see. Now shush."
Thankfully it wasn't long before it happened.
Amamiya came down from the steps that led to his own hut. When he was a reasonable distance from Ann's, he took a deep breath...
...and whistled.
Shiho smirked.
Monkey King Ryuji, however, said,
"Uh...what is he doing?"
"Serenading. The traditional faerie way."
It was then there was realization on the king's face, no doubt now noticing that the whistling wasn't any old whistling.
Amamiya whistled notes, stringing them together into one of the many faerie courtship songs, yearning and hopeful. And as he went through it, he danced, his steps done with confidence and grace, as if he had done it his whole life. Paired with the moonlight and trees framing the performance, it was like watching a midnight ball, ethereal and elegant.
So of course when Ann's head popped out of the window of her hut, she stared in shock. Amamiya took notice of it, glancing at her, but he continued his song and dance unimpeded. Then, finally, he reached its end, standing in front of Ann, who had since stepped outside but still wore her shocked expression. Even from her spot, Shiho could see Amamiya blush as he said,
"Just in case my intentions weren't clear enough, I would like to court you, Takamaki. If you would let me."
For one moment Ann stared.
Then the next one she said, "Y-Yes, you may court me."
And then lightning struck...
"WOOOOO! CONGRATS YOU TWO!"
...in the form of Ryuji and his companions shocking the newly formed couple.
"What the?!" Ann said.
Seeing that they were found, Shiho decided to go with the flow and stepped out of her cover.
"Finally," she said. "I was wondering when you two were going to start."
"Shi—er, Suzui!?"
"Yup. You're welcome by the way. I was the one who taught him that for you."
The couple looked ready to interrogate her but then the Monkey King caught them in his arms and said,
"This calls for another celebration! Right everyone?!"
The beasts cheered, Shiho smiled and the couple protested in embarrassment.
But Ryuji said, "Come on! You two are basically together now, right? You should celebrate that! And our alliance!"
Both stared at him.
"Alliance?" they said, surprised.
Shiho would've been too, but her emotions weren't scrambled from embarrassment so she wasn't, considering the monkey king's nature.
The monkey king laughed and said, "Yeah! Consider us allies now! So come on! Let's go celebrate!"
And so Ryuji and the beasts dragged everyone, including her, back to the palace to do just as Ryuji said.
This had definitely been a good spot for Amamiya to make his move.
Even if he himself or Ann didn't think so at that moment.
Akira looked around, ignoring the grumbling of all the various demon generals that came with her, her brother, and the faeries. Though it wasn't a natural wonder like the Grand Hall of Faeries or Flower Fruit Mountain, the castle of Midgard's capital was still a sight to see. Unlike Pandemonium's castle, instead of black and ruddy, it was shimmering white and gold, and instead of being carved from a mountain side, it stood proud and tall like a mountain in the center of the capital city, and instead of weapons or plant growth on the garden, there were statues all around, no doubt of the kings and queens who lived here before.
"So will King Goro meet us here or at the castle itself?" Takamaki said to her brother.
"I believe he will meet us here," Ren said, scanning the place as well. "He mentioned that he wanted us to meet his council."
"Really? Okay..." she said, yet still looked at the castle. "I hope so. Otherwise this'll end up not being a good first time to bring our administrators with us."
Her brother smiled and Akira's heart warmed at the sight.
"Oh don't worry so much," he said, giving a light peck to the faerie queen's forehead. "I'm pretty sure that's my job."
Takamaki gave him a flat stare. "And what is that supposed to mean?" she said, equally flat.
Ren laughed. "Oh nothing at all."
"Really? 'Nothing at all'?" she said, unconvinced.
As those two bantered, the grumbling of the demon generals renewed while the faerie officials merely ignored them. Akira would've continued to do the same, except...
"I can't believe the demon lord is courting a faerie," one said.
"Well I can't believe how he can just kiss and hold hands with her. It's disgusting."
"Indeed. Coddling her like that. I thought the demon lord was better than this."
"I bet she just used her magic on him, didn't she? What was it called? Hypnosis?"
"I think the word you're looking for is 'gossip', gentleman," she said as loud as possible.
That startled the generals and made Ren glare at them, which shut them up like children caught playing with their parent's weapons. But as a side effect of her announcing it, Takamaki noticed and became troubled. Akira flinched at the sight, especially as her brother reassured her that he still loved her. She couldn't help but also glare at the grumpy demons, who were more than happy to match it with their own.
Thank the spirits that the door to the castle opened to reveal a human in resplendent clothes that would make even demons jealous, his bearing the picture of leadership as he walked to them with several men behind him.
"My apologies for taking so long to greet you, you Highnesses. Some of my councilmen were bold enough to rudely delay me," the man said, glancing behind him, his cold eyes contrasting with his warm smile.
"I assume you are King Goro then?" her brother said.
"The one and only," the man said. "And you are Demon Lord Amamiya, yes?"
"Yes."
He glanced to his left. "And you are Faerie Queen Takamaki?"
"Yes I am."
"Ah, I see. And these are your..." he said, glancing at the faeries and demons behind them, until his eyes met hers.
Akira gave him a look, daring him to make her stand out. It wouldn't be the first time someone noticed she had human colored skin and asked about it.
But he didn't.
"...respective associates, I take it?" he said.
With that, the discussion turned to introductions and pleasantries that Akira half paid attention to as King Goro led them into the castle and their own quarters to get settled, the other half focused on looking at her surroundings in both curiosity and caution. Mom always had mixed feelings about her homeland after all. She was interested to see if Midgard was both as good and bad as she told her before she left. So far on their way to the castle, she had been right. It was like the worst of Pandemonium, gunk filled slums filled with crime, and the best of Tir-na-nog, carefree luxury and peace, had been taken to the extreme with a gigantic gap in the middle that the former couldn't cross and the latter didn't even want to think of going over. Akira could understand why her mother thought to leave the kingdom for her safety.
Before long, each of the guest rooms were shown and filled, with her, her brother and Takamaki left for last. King Goro personally escorted them to their rooms, which were right beside each other, his councilmen having left long since the pleasantries started. So it was just the king who wished them farewell before they did the same and went into their respective rooms.
Her room was...fancy. White walls with gold linings, several paintings of landscapes on the walls, a large comfy looking bed that had curtains to make it almost like its own room, and tall windows that let the sun light up the entire space. Yes she knew to expect it thanks to the castle's exterior but it was still a bit jarring to think that she would sleep here.
It just reminded her that this wasn't home.
She would admit though, the bed was really good. In fact, it was so good she hadn't realized she fell alseep until she jolted awake from the sounds of knocking on her door, followed by Takamaki saying,
"Aki? Are you in there?"
"Blurgh... Yeah! Come on in!" she said as best as she could with a garbled mouth and a sluggish mind.
The faerie came in just as Akira sat up on the bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
"Oh, did I wake you? I can come back another time."
"Nah nah, it's fine. Thanks for waking me." She gave one good yawn before she said, "So? What did Big Bro do this time?"
Takamaki furrowed her brow in suspicion. "What...makes you think that?'
She just gave her a flat stare and said, "You spend as much time as you can by his side. This is the perfect time to since everyone's resting. And you're not. You're here, talking to me. So, problem."
The woman groaned but didn't deny it as she flopped face first onto the bed beside her.
"I should've known you would figure it out."
She smirked. "Runs in the family." Then she said, more seriously, "So? What's the problem?"
It took her a bit, but she eventually turned her head enough for her to say, "The demon generals..."
And Akira already knew exactly what the problem was.
"Yeah. They're jerks. You don't have to listen to what they say."
"But they're generals, under Ren's command. I don't want any rebellions happening because of me."
"Hey, if they're gonna ignore the fact that business has been booming and how you're helping our country, then that's on them."
She sighed. "I know, I know, Ren told me too, but... There must be some way to make them stop, right? Maybe something I can do to convince them?"
And that gave Akira an idea and she couldn't help but smile, mischief prancing in her mind and cunning formulating a plan.
"Well...maybe you could court Big Bro the traditional demon way."
"Huh?"
"I mean, Big Bro did that faerie whistle serenade and nobody's been complaining about him for the most part in Tir-na-nog, right?"
"Yes."
"So just do the demon way with him to show them you mean business like Big Bro does."
Takamaki quieted as she pondered on her words. But Akira already knew what she would say.
"Okay then. I'll do that," the queen said. "So? What am I supposed to do?"
Akira smirked.
"Pin him in public."
Silence.
"What?!"
Akira laughed at Takamaki's expression, looking absolutely scandalized.
"Aki! Stop joking!"
"I-I-I'm...n-not..." She took a deep breath to settle herself. "That's basically what you're supposed to do. Make sure the one you want to court doesn't notice you and then surprise attack 'em and pin 'em. When you do that, you then pin the horns. If the pinned demon lets their horns be touched, it means they accept them as their beloved."
"R-Really...?"
"Yup! Demons care a lot about strength after all. And our horns."
And it wasn't as if it was any more scandalous than Takamaki wearing very little clothing. Or that time she had touched Big Bro's horns before they even started courting.
"A-All right then..." she said. "I'll...do that... Eventually."
"Oh come on! The sooner those generals shut up, the better! And I can't think of any better time to do it than now."
"What?! I can't do that! We're in the middle of meetings with King Goro! I can't them have a bad impression of me or Pandemonium."
"And they won't."
"Really? How?" Takamaki said with a flat stare.
"Just leave it to me," she said.
"Aki..."
"I promise it will work out. Do you really think I'd make my brother look bad?"
"Yes."
"In public?"
"Yes."
"Okay, in public as the demon lord?"
Finally Takamaki hesitated and said, "No."
And so Akira smiled and stood up.
"Good! I'll get on it right now. You just decide when you want to do it and where. Just make sure it's in front of the generals so that it'll shut them up."
"What? Wait, Aki!" she said.
But Akira slipped out of her room, shifting her form into shadows. With the many potted plants and lots of lighting, both artificial and natural, it was easy enough to jump between shadows quickly. Using the gossip and general talk of the servants in the castle, she figured out the king was at his private study and reformed into her usual self right outside it. After making sure she was presentable, she knocked on the door.
"Excuse me, your Majesty? Are you free?" she said. "This is General Akira Amamiya and there is a matter I believe you'd find beneficial in discussing with me."
A few moments passed, the human king no doubt deciding whether he would take the bait she had laid.
Thankfully it was enticing enough for him to say,
"Yes I am. You may come in, General."
Akira had expected something similar to her room to greet her, all bright and pristine, except the paintings would be replaced with books. There were books, true, but they were in old worn shelves of mahogany. There was light, but only from lamps across the walls. And there, in the center, was an equally aged mahogany desk and King Goro, sitting behind it in dark but still expensively clean clothes.
"To what do I owe this visit?" he said.
"I wish to make a deal with you."
There was a flicker of interest but the man's expression didn't change.
"Oh? And what does this deal entail?"
"That you won't be offended when Faerie Queen Takamaki courts my brother in demon tradition with your councilmen and our administrators as audience."
Now the man showed his interest, smiling and leaning back. The supposed picture of a relaxed guard, but his eyes were still frigid in contrast to the warmth of his smile.
"Oh? Then what would I get in exchange should I agree?"
"What do you want?" she said.
As she thought, that caught the king off guard but like before, it was fleeting and King Goro was back to his confident persona.
"Those are dangerous words, General. I could very well take advantage of that."
"Exactly why I offered."
The man was shocked and then laughed. Akira couldn't help but smile at it, the laugh sounding so free and disbelieving instead of mocking or hysterical. When he finished though, he looked almost embarrassed, as if he hadn't laughed in a very long time.
"I see then," he said. "But as tempting as it is to do so, I have no guarantee you would grant it. So how is allowing this...courtship tradition passing mutually beneficial for us should I allow it to happen with no punishment?"
Akira smirked.
"We get to show off the strength of my brother and his beloved faerie queen and quell my brother's fussy generals," she said. "You get to show your council you have gained the trust of two powerful leaders so that they cannot oppose you and that they can be 'controlled' by you for those paranoid of the alliance itself. And, again, you get whatever you want from me."
She wondered if she caught the young king off guard again as he turned silent and pondering. She, however, was fairly confident he would accept. He had noticed her after all. There was no doubt he was curious about her. And now that she did something so bold, it probably shot up higher. There was a good chance he knew that she was doing her best to play him to her advantage.
So when he said,
"Very well. I accept. You have a deal."
She smiled and offered her hand. This time she knew for sure she caught him off guard as he shook it.
"Thank you...very much," she said afterwards.
"Don't thank me yet. We still have to pull it off successfully."
Akira stared.
Then she laughed. "Good point. I look forward to working with you."
And so the plan was set in motion. She had to talk her way out of explaning her plan to Takamaki when she came back and instead pried info from her that she didn't want to do try "demon pinning" Ren right before, during or after a meeting. So of course, the final meeting and settling several deals, King Goro made an opportunity: he suggested they would celebrate with a ball, with a hunting party before it. The demon generals were all for the hunting and revelry, the human nobles were looking forward to relax despite the "outsiders" and the faerie administrators were very curious about it all. That's when Akira suggested to Takamaki that the hunt was the perfect chance to "demon pin" Ren and she decided she would use it.
They all particpated in the hunt, the demons making a competition of it. Of course the humans quickly fell behind in it while the faeries, being worthy tricksters, kept pace by sabotaging botht the humans and demons attempts while succeeding in their own. Though King Goro was making an impressive amount of catches in comparison to the rest of his council. Of course, none could beat the amount her brother and Takamaki were gathering. It got to the point that King Goro had to call them all off with horns, saying that was the limit to the prey they could capture in the forest.
As they went back, the nobles besides the king were grumbling about the demons and faeries "cheating", which amused Akira immensely. The demons and faeries meanwhile were having rather cordial conversations about what had happened, from magic tricks to hunting technique, now that the former has seen the skills of the latter. At least until Ren looked around their "camp" on the edge of the forest and said,
"Has anyone seen the faerie queen?"
Akira smirked as the administrators panicked and began to search.
3...2...1...
"Oof!"
Ren was tackled by Takamaki, running him through the ground. Her brother got her off of him. But since he was still dazed, she grappled with him again. What followed next made Akira laugh hysterically as the humans screamed about "insanity", the demons were staring in awe at the flames, shadows and dirt being thrown around, and the faeries were shocked at the display.
"You seem to be enjoying this."
She turned to see King Goro standing beside her.
"Like you aren't," she said, noting he made no attempt to calm or rally his councilmen.
"Well it isn't my fault they won't listen to me, now is it?"
She laughed, remembering the first day they arrived. "Indeed."
"Is it usually this...destructive though?" he said as a tree flew over their heads.
"No. It's just because the two courting happen to be the two most powerful magic users from their kingdoms."
"Ah, I see."
This time they sidestepped as a boulder barreled past. The screams and shouts renewed behind them.
"So when are you going to calm them?"
"When it's over," he said, smirking.
Akira snickered.
"Over" didn't happen for a good five minutes, which was rather long for a fight. It was certainly long enough for the noblemen to hide behind the generals and administrators begrundgingly, just smart enough to not complain about the only ones who could protect them. But when Takamaki did finally pin her brother and grab his horns, the demon generals tensed, wondering if the demon lord had truly been beaten. Then the two spoke, too far for any of them to hear, and Ren relaxed and Takamaki caressed his horns.
Akira covered her ears as the demons and faeries cheered but still smiled despite it.
"Looks like it's a resounding success," she said, her body light from joy.
"Thank you for making the obvious apparent," he said.
Akira laughed once again. "Yeah, yeah I know." She turned to him and said, "But seriously, thank you."
She wondered why the king was taken aback for a moment before he said,
"You're welcome."
In hopes of possibly remedying that brief surprise, she said, "So, wanna decide on what you want right now, King Goro?"
It happened again, but passed much quicker. "What I want, hmm?"
He turned quiet as he pondered. The words of her brother, Takamaki and everyone around her turning into a mere trickle of a calm stream to her as she wondered why he hesitated.
"What? Is it gonna be kingdom secrets?" she said. "Because there's not much to tell on my brother," she said. But she leaned closer for the rest. "Some of our generals on the other hand..."
The king flinched but he finally had an answer and said,
"I think I shall want something simpler than that."
Akira tilted her head. "Simpler? You sure? I really do mean what I say. I'll grant whatever you want."
She had no fear he would do anything nasty. Even if she was half human, she still was a demon. She could easily handle anything rough from him. And even if he did have unsavory thoughts, it would risk the trade agreements he had just made, so there was low chance on him acting on them.
"Then...will you be willing to spend time with me over tea and books? Not as a king, but as a man who wishes to know you?"
Akira stared.
And then she laughed and smiled.
"That sounds just up my alley."
Ann sat down, looking around the conference room of the newly built Internation Conference Hall.
It was only a few years since she had answered Ren's letter and already they had managed to build a conference hall in an area that was declared neutral on one of the mountains in the Flower Fruit Mountains. All the days of paperwork, coordination, and courting almost seemed distant now, each moment flying by yet so precious, especially the times she just got to spend time with Ren as two lovers and not two monarchs. Of course it wasn't all smooth sailing, not just with their relationship but with the alliances with all the other nations. But they worked through it, all of them, and now they were about to have the first international conference between the heads of several nations to further discuss any issues and such between them.
Except Ann thought that would include bringing up marriage to Ren, considering if they did get married, it wouldn't just affect them but their respective kingdoms.
Unfortunately she hadn't had much chance to bring it up with him before the National Conference, either she or Ren always being pulled away for preperations for it, if they were even in the same room in the first place. And now the conference was happening in several minutes and there was no way she could just bring up with him, not when they already had so much on their plate and there would be many details to sort though about their marriage, like engagement and the actual ceremony. Ann sighed. It would have to be put off for later, maybe even a year. Not that she was going to complain...much. They had worked hard to get to this point after all. There will be more chances after this.
Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long for it to start, many faces that have become familiar over the months and years arriving in the room after her, particularly Monkey Ryuji, High King Goro, and, of course, Demon Lord Ren, followed by guards from all the nations and finally several chroniclers. All the leaders took their assigned seats at the ring table and prepared their papers and such. Before the conference began in proper however, Ren then stood up again.
"May I have your attention, fellow leaders?" he said.
Everyone's attention turned to him as he asked.
He smiled and said, "Thank you." He cleared his throats. "First of all, thank you for being here. When I had sent those letters to you all, years ago, I had hoped that it would eventually come to this, but I never thought it would be this soon and I can only be grateful for you all giving this a chance."
The room gave their applause, in whatever was considered such in their culture, at Ren's words, Ann smiling at it all.
"But, forgive me for this, there is one I am especially thankful to, and that is, of course, my beloved faerie queen."
Cheers were done in response along with some teasing from ruler of Rl'yeh and the Monkey King. Ann chuckled in embarrassment at it but said nothing. She didn't want to interrupt him, as much as she felt like slapping him lightly for the feeling.
But then he said, "And I know this is sudden but..."
Then walked towards her. She looked at him, confused as to what he was doing.
"Ren...?" she said, noticing he had his hands hidden behind him and covered by his cape.
It was only when he stood before her and revealed his hand did she get her answer.
In his hands was a silver and gold diadem with forget-me-nots, lavenders, zinnias and pink roses on it, making it look more like a laurel.
"Would you marry me, my love?" he said.
Ann laughed at herself. Of course he would combine their engagement practices.
She said, "Yes."
Ren smiled even wider and put the engagement crown on her head.
And of course...
"WOO! FINALLY! I WAS WONDERING WHEN YOU'D PROPOSE!"
...Ryuji startled them all as he jumped and spun his seat, the guards from his country doing the same.
"Monkey King Ryuji!" Calm down! We're still in a conference!" Seraphim Makoto said.
"Oh come on Seraphim. Let him go for a bit," the ruler of Rl'yeh said, snickering from inside her magic bubble. "It's the first time monarchs of different countries got engaged."
"All the more reason to continue the conference," the angel said, glaring at the underwater girl.
"Ah! But such passion!" Lord Yusuke said, his tails wagging in anticipation. "I see no harm in a short celebration."
"We won't get to celebrate or congratulate if no one stops him," Goro said.
"I can do it," Grand Chieftess Haru said, going to Ryuji.
Who noticed her approach. "What?! Hey wait!"
The elven chief showed off that elves were truly hunters as she restrained the her prey and everything exploded. Seraphim Makoto went on to chastise all of them, the ones guilty protested about the action and the others mediated between them, all the while the guards were undecided if they should interfere with the leaders or not.
Ann laughed. "Guess we still have a lot of work to do," she said, exasperated but fond, knowing that there would be no bad blood.
For the most part.
Ren joined her as he wrapped her in his arms.
"Well as long as you're by my side, I'm sure we can work through it."
Ann leaned into him. She agreed of course. That was what it meant to be in a proper relationship, no matter what kind it was: work through the differences with each other, together.
Author's Note: -decides to write a fantasy au; ends up writing 14,000+ words- I swear I keep making things that blow up longer than I wanted to...
Anyways! I was originally going to write Ann and Ren going on a vacation to my home country (because I will usually take every excuse to mention, reference or use it), but then I...interpreted the prompt "international" from my original plan of "international vacation" into "international relationship and how they deal with having different cultures".
Did I take the easy way out by using fantasy worlds and species to avoid researching too much into real world locations though? Yes. But like I said, it's also because this was something I really wanted to do. Especially because I kept making more details for this world while making this (which is probably how this fic exploded...) And besides I did end up doing a little research in the end, just not as much as I would've done if I had taken the vacation route.
In case you're wondering, yes, the rest of the Phantom Thieves are, more or less, leaders of nations in this world, if not in high positions. But I only thought of what exactly they rule and what they are for some of the others, which are:
The demon empire of Pandamonium and their Demon Lord, Ren Amamiya
The kingdom of Tir-na-nog and their Faerie Queen, Ann Takamaki
The beast filled kingdom of Flower Fruit Mountain and their Great Sage Under Heaven Monkey King, Ryuji
The human land of Midgard and its king, Goro Akechi
The Onogoro Islands of the yokai clans and its Lord, Yusuke the Inari
The ancient underwater city of Rl'yeh and its leader, Futaba
The plains of the elf clans and the grand chieftess, Haru Okumura
The realm of angels and one of its highest ranking angels, Seraphim Makoto
I don't know why, but I like imagining Shiho is a bit of a trickster in her own right. ...okay I do know why. I just like the thought of Shiho teasing Ann, that's all, and that Ann gets VERY annoyed at the fact that both her best friend and beloved bethrothed love to tease her. Though Shiho wouldn't tease her as much as Ren (or Akira) does.