Chapter 5: A Pre-Natal Celebration/Baby Shower
King's list of personal, sensitive buttons:
#1: His responsibility for releasing the Collector
#2: Being reminded that he is the last Titan in the Demon Realm
Those were his primary buttons for the past six years. They had tormented him. Haunted him. Given him recurring nightmares.
The tour the Mammon siblings gave him of the palace was a complete nightmare, grimly insulting him for his old delusions of being an actual king. It had to be button #3 for him.
Belos' old secluded, heavily guarded and mechanical castle standing above a pit of sharp spikes seemed like a playground bully's sandcastle. Iruma and Ameri's castle was gods' work. Thirteen stories tall, the palace's white stones and black tiles continuously looked brand new. The cherry blossom trees and purple thorns forest coating the mesa was the size of Bonesborough. Separating the forest from the mesa's edge were six green fields and a ten-layered marble quarry. The quarry always got dangerously steeper when demons mined marble for the palace and to bring to the nearby villages. The quarry itself was a weapon. A false move and intruders could easily trip and slide down to a likely fall.
"Unless you quickly regain consciousness to fly off, the fall itself will kill you," Maurice had warned.
"And if you survive the fall?" King had asked.
The answer was easy.
The Queen had her secret police. Well, according to Magali, it wasn't really that much of a secret. The primary captains were her old student council members during their years at Babyls (or, as the palace staff and public criminals dubbed them, the 'Queen's Apocalypse Horsemen). After her marriage to Iruma, Ameri had assembled them and other Babyls alumni who had served at the student council. King and the siblings had witnessed the captains training rookies and general members. About six of the rookies were youngsters working part-time at the palace to gain recommendations for their Babyls entrance exam. From the looks of it, Magali and Maurice Mammon weren't fans of them.
"They act all mighty for part-timing with the Queen's Apocalypse Horsemen," Magali had commented when they had briefly watched the captains force the rookies into rough flight, sparring, and tracking exercises. "WE have to get recommendations from the head staff leaders to make the cut. These jerks will get immediately accepted to Babyls just because they worked for the Queen's Apocalypse Horsemen!"
"Chin up, Mags." Maurice had comforted her. "The Queen's expectations for the secret police are clear. If the rookies get accepted into Babyls, they must join the student council, gain Vau-ranks by the end of their first years, and not infract a single school rule before they can be evaluated by the police. It'll be over for them if they even fill ONE condition!"
Considering how he'd witnessed Ameri's wrath at breakfast for her husband's crime of forgetting tonight's baby shower, he could understand her queenly conditions of Hell regarding her police. Nevertheless, the secret police was spread out. One guard per hall, two per walls, as much as possible by the gate, a few flying out of the mesa to check on the neighboring town's local authorities, and naturally a whole flock on the areal perimeter of the royal chambers. That last one was implemented during Ameri's pregnancy. The impending arrival of the Demon Heir meant reinforced security near the royal chambers.
The mesa, the quarry, and the secret police were on their own some great defenses for the palace. Only the royals could summon the thorn bridge connecting the mainland to the mesa. That meant that any servant, merchant, or visiting dignitaries coming by foot or carriage needed the king's invitation.
The palace itself was a maze. The inner courtyards and gardens were bigger than they seemed on the outside and the rooms looked bigger than they did from the buildings' exterior. Magali had been correct previously: 130 guest rooms were spread out in 10 floors, the Aleph-ranked guest rooms being fancy and the Yod-ranked guest rooms being obscenely fancy while the royals' chambers were humble in their wealth. Floors 1-2 were strictly for royal matters: the throneroom, six conference rooms, six dining halls, six ballrooms, and one trial room. Floor 13 was entirely for the royals: their chamber and annexed bathroom, the dining room, the gameroom, the office, the library, and one room the Mammon siblings couldn't show their guest. The servants had their own residential tower and King was wondering if Iruma was madder than Belos. Full-timers and part-timers shared two-people dorms and communal bathrooms, had six kitchens of their own along with the king's fancy one, their own courtyard for horticulture and ball games, a game room, and a roof deck. The servants' roof deck was right be the servants' sole apartment, resided by yours truly Andrealphus and his sole relative.
In the chaos of this regal madness, King's favorite part was the gardens. Small balcony-based gardens, herbal gardens, the greenhouse, and naturally, the Great Garden. The centerpiece of the palace. Cherry blossom trees formed cotton candy clouds, the flying petals almost like snow. Thorns caged in what appeared to be carnivorous plants. Horned fishes swam in the ponds under the grey stone bridges. Black pine trees grew in twists and turns, like bony hands holding out to welcome birds of prey. Potted wasabi framed the pathways and red-leafed maple trees wiped away the bird poop on some stone statues. Azaleas were used to decorate the tables spread around the garden.
With the nice weather outside and with the siblings' lunch break approaching, King was open to their suggestion of having lunch in the garden. After 13 minutes of running, Magali came back with a basket full of sandwiches, hot tea bottles, and apples. Lunch was surprisingly enjoyable despite King's efforts to avoid answering questions about where in the Netherworld he came from.
"So, you NEVER went to school?" Magali asked. "I guess it makes sense that you were homeschooled!"
"Mags!" Maurice exclaimed.
"I guess it does…" King smiled. Oh yeah, I never went to school because from ages 0 to 8, I was raised by a criminal, and 8 to 14, I've been living at home or in the woods, it depends, because I'm a Titan and nobody likes me because I freed the Collector!
"You know, you pulled a HUGE favor for the King, helping his wife and all!" Magali took a huge bite of her sandwich. "Maybe if you play the cards right, King Iruma could personally recommend you to Babyls! He'd have to!"
A squadron of rookies from the secret police, led by current members and one of the Queen's Apocalypse Horsemen, were jogging in the garden. Sweat soaked the rookies' foreheads. The current members jogged and jumped over the ponds as if it was a mere walk to the park for them. Crossing their path was Andrealphus with a bag of devi bird seeds.
When a rookie started running far ahead of her peers at the same pace as the members, her face got smacked by Andrealphus' tail. The tail started whipping at the members. Most of them dodged them, but three weren't so lucky. And Andrealphus was doing all of this while his hands carried a heavy birdseed bag.
King got up to catch up, his leg limping. The Mammon siblings quickly followed him. The rookies looked severely angry at Andrealphus. However, before they could yell at them, the unimpressed Apocalypse Horseman snapped them back in attention.
"THIS is what's to be considered pathetic," her blue lips snarled. "Enemies of the Netherworld can take many approaches. You expect to confront armies, but you can't even anticipate a servant to attack you! Pay more attention to your surroundings when you move to protect demons! After you escort the injured to the healer, triple your awareness exercises!"
"Yes, Lady Smoke!" The rookies and members shouted.
And out of nowhere, one rookie got slapped behind the head by Andrealphus' tail, knocking them down.
"You just tripled up your tripled up exercises, you weaklings!" Lady Smoke barked. "Laps towards the quarry! Now!"
"YES, LADY SMOKE!" The rookies and members stampeded out of the garden. Lady Smoke scowled.
"The Queen will be dissatisfied…" Lady Smoke grumbled. Despite her bangs overshadowing her eyes, King could feel her staring at them. "Any reason why you kids are here?"
"They're with me."
Mammon and Magali tilted their heads at Andrealphus. He still had that apathetic look on his face as he cautiously filled a bird feeder with seeds.
"No one's with you, Andrealphus," Lady Smoke said. "If there were, you wouldn't be keeping the rookies in line."
"I keep the scullery in line, not the recommendation hogs."
Magali hissed behind her brother. King just stared at the scene.
"Well, the King knows who he trusts. I don't even remember when was the last time we had an intruder in the palace. Keep up what you're doing, Andrealphus!" Lady Smoke ran off to join her inferiors.
"We didn't ask you to cover for us, you toxic peacock!" Magali snapped at Andrealphus. He just ignored her and walked off, carrying his bird seed bag with him. "Yeah, that's what I thought!" Magali shouted.
"Magali! Don't!" Maurice pulled her away. "Let's just finish our lunch. We still need to do some more chores and set things up for the Pre-Natal Celebration."
King almost forgot the baby shower happening tonight. For some reason, demons on this side of the Netherworld called it a 'Pre-Natal Celebration', a 'let's celebrate the fetus' growth to give it enough ambition to break its mother's waters' party. Iruma and Ameri were having the rest of the Thirteen Crowns over for a casual get together, open presents and go through celebratory tributes from the Netherworld's mayors. 666 carts had been coming into the mesa and the guards had devi hounds sniff the packages for safety. King still couldn't believe the pyramids of presents piling up over ONE baby. He didn't remember seeing so many gifts when Hunter and Willow had their baby shower.
He also wasn't looking forward to tonight. As the King's guest, he HAD to come. As the one whose blood donation saved the Queen and future heir, he REALLY HAD to come.
King shook his head. He informed Magali and Maurice that he'd take a quick, small stroll around the garden and he'd meet back with them. After making sure he had his crutch with him, the siblings dared to trust him. Magali seemed happy when a full King gave her the remaining half of his sandwich. King didn't really have a route in mind for strolling the garden.
However, the sight of Andrealphus dropping his bird seed bag near a koi pond gave him an idea. Kneeling down, Andrealphus was picking up the black sunflower seeds from the black gravel. Anyone would have abandoned the seeds on the spot; they blended too well with the gravel. However, Andrealphus plucked them off one by one from the ground, never mistaking a pebble for a seed. He might as well be identifying real diamonds out of an ocean of cubic zirconia.
Still… He couldn't just let Andrealphus…
"Don't even think of helping me." Andrealphus hadn't even lifted his head. King was surprised. The peacock tail was rattling, warning him.
"OK. I won't. I just thought…" King began.
Andrealphus' pointy ears perked. He finally realized that it was King standing there all this time. "Not you," he muttered. He snapped his fingers. The seeds floated off the ground and flew right into the bag.
King's eyes widened. "You could have just used telekinesis to put the seeds in the bag!" He said.
Andrealphus ignored him, lifting the bag up his shoulders. King limply followed him.
"Look, I know we don't each other, but…" King managed to catch up to him.
"Not interested."
"Eesh, straightforward. Well, I don't want us to know each other, but I'm just curious…"
"I'm not interested."
"How do I leave this place?"
Andrealphus' tail agitated. He stopped in his tracks and glared at King. "Did those recommendation hogs put you up to it?"
"Whoa, take it easy!" King held his hands up in defense.
"Take it easy? That's all you hogs do!" Andrealphus' teeth gritted under his indifferent lips. "Let me guess: the King personally invited you, so you want to get closer to him, and the hogs told you that the best way to befriend our monarch was to befriend me. If you're going to dupe me, think of something cleverer!"
King was confused by Andrealphus' immediate reaction. Still, he knew from experience when he wasn't desired… and when he should disappear.
"OK." King stepped back. "I'll just ask Maurice or Magali how I can leave… I really shouldn't be here." He turned his back and started walking away. When Andrealphus' tail appeared in front of him, King quickly caught it before the feathery tip could catch him. He looked over his shoulder. Andrealphus hadn't budged from his spot, but his tail had extended to reach past the thirteen feet distance separating him from King.
"Quick tail," King rolled his eyes.
"Quick reflexes. No wonder the recommendation hogs set you up." Andrealphus' tail yanked off from King's hold. The tail's tip began to rattle.
"I don't know what you're talking about and I'm leaving." King walked away from Andrealphus. "Let me know when the next merchant cart comes so I can go home!"
"Yeah, good luck with that."
Andrealphus' scoff stopped King in his tracks.
"Just what part of the Netherworld do you think you're in?" Andrealphus asked. "You're clearly in no position to waltz around the region with your injured leg, and need I remind you that you're the King's guest?"
"Yeah, I don't want to be his guest."
That comment agitated Andrealphus' tail even more. When it struck, King dodged it. When King looked at Andrealphus, he had the cold expression on his face but angry gleam in his eyes.
"What's your deal?" King asked. "I don't want to be here. I have nothing to do with those rookies that make you angry for some reason, AND I want nothing from your king. I just want to leave. Why are you angry?"
Andrealphus scoffed. "And why are you stupid? The thorn bridge can only be summoned by the royals and outsiders only enter and exit through the king's invitation. The king invited you to his palace to treat your leg and keeps hosting you after you saved his unborn child. You should be grateful for his benevolence."
"Yeah, I get it. He's a really nice guy. It has nothing to do with me wanting to leave!"
"And then what?" Andrealphus drew his tail away. "What would happen to the demon whose blood healed the unborn Demon Heir? Civilians would be questioning why they never heard of you or why the king sent you away, Criminals could use you as bait if they thought you were the king's favorite."
King felt each strand of fur in his body freeze.
If the other rookies and servants were ganging up against Andrealphus, the king's alleged favorite, they chose a horrible target. And Lady Smoke's casual reaction to his attack on one of her trainees seemed like a recurrence. Andrealphus was no favorite, but the king and queen seemed to trust him. The leading staff seemed to trust him. With that neutralizing tail of his, he could walk around Scott free. One strike, and a demon was severely weakened emotionally… for a certain amount of time.
Not to mention that Andrealphus had a point. King had no idea if Titans were common knowledge in this part of the Demon Realm. They might eat humans here, but what would they do to the last Titan?
The palace was a cage and a sanctuary.
Andrealphus headed towards the servants' quarters. "The Mammon siblings will ensure you rest up before the Pre-Natal Celebration. Try not to make a scene when the other Thirteen Crowns come and DON'T talk to me. Like ever."
King shouted after him. "Fine! I could care less if you fell off the mesa!" He turned back to go find Maurice and Magali. His leg winced in pain as he forced each step onward.
Later in the day
King adjusted the glasses Maurice had put over his eyes.
"I don't need glasses to see," King said. "Why do the king and queen want me to wear them?"
"Detection warding glasses allow the wearer to dissolve… slightly," Maurice said. "It's just to help you blend in. The Majesties wanted you to attend but not feel uncomfortable. The Thirteen Crowns will still treat you nicely because you are a guest of the king, but to them, you'll look like an average kid."
Average kid. If only King had grown up as an average kid…
Maurice opened the door leading to the dining hall where the baby shower would take place. King recognized it as the humble-but-still-fancy dining hall from the tour, the one with a balcony view of the gardens. A table with purple napkins and polished silverware had been set up. Even the iris-patterned napkins and intricately carved utensils looked expensive despite probably being the cheapest the servants could find in the cabinets. Armchairs with cushions were positioned to circle two bigger ones. Some maids made some final arrangements to the bouquets on the table.
Iruma and Ameri finally came in, followed by Andrealphus and…
King and Maurice automatically covered their mouths to hold in their laughter. Magali was dressed horn to tail in a jester uniform. Pentagrams of thirteen different shades of blues and reds coated her black one-piece. Her sleeves and collar were trimmed by thorn-patterned, laced black ruffles. Her harlequin cap covered her horns, the bells jiggling every time she walked. Her shoes were the only flat thing in her outfit despite the look she gave the boys.
They just released their laughter.
"I just can't!" Maurice laughed. "Even after weeks, I'm just not used to it!"
At her touch, Magali's jester stick turned to solid bronze and she hit Maurice on the butt with it.
"Kids! No fighting before the guests," Iruma warned.
"We apologize, your Highness!" Maurice and Magali quickly bowed. King stopped laughing.
"Magali, why are you a clown?" He asked.
"Deviquin," Magali corrected, waving her staff around. "Deviquins entertain audiences of all ages to wash off their negative feelings during their evil cycles. My parents say that all I do is clown around, so I'm working primarily as a Deviquin for the court!"
"And your humor will definitely be needed if too much stress occurs." Ameri did her best to sit down on her armchair. She panted once she finally sat down.
"Refreshment, your Majesty?" Maurice asked. He got his answer just when Iruma gave his wife a glass of water. King observed how Ameri drank her water slowly. Almost like she feared that an incorrect sip would do some damage.
Then again, considering the infant she's carrying…
"Our friends are currently coming," Iruma clapped his hands, getting the attention of the siblings and Andrealphus. "They're good demons, but remember that they can be just as paranoid as I am. So, here are some tips because the last rookies had some difficulties the last time I had my friends over." He raised out three fingers, exposing the rings on his right hand. "First tip: we DON'T talk about humans!"
The young demons and King nodded their heads.
"Second tip: we DON'T say mean things to my friends even if they do something they shouldn't!"
They nodded again.
"Third: we NEVER ask Mr. and Mrs. Shax if their child is a boy or a girl!"
The nodding repeated again.
"Fourth: we DON'T start talking about this celebration outside of this dining hall! That means no social media postings, no gossip in the hallways, and no thievery and online selling of my friends' gifts! Fifth: don't make King the center of attention; he might not like that. And the final, most crucial tip: DO NOT say or do anything that can stress out Ameri! She only recovered just yesterday, so let's not stress her out again or pester questions about our baby's gender!" Iruma crossed his arms and looked at all four. "Any tip infraction, and there will be consequences. Magali and Oto, your families would be notified, and Maurice, you might go down a rank. King, I don't know what I'm going to tell you. If all of you respect those tips…" He twirled his left hand. Four tickets appeared in his grip.
Maurice and Magali squealed in delight.
"Week-long passes to an amusement park of your choice." Iruma smiled at the teens' reactions before summoning the tickets away. "Careful, now. I'm all up for rewarding hard workers, but don't waste your ambitions. Alright?"
"Yes, sir." In their modest bow, the siblings' tails were bouncing. King really didn't understand what he was seeing.
Belos was a tyrant and the Collector a brat. The former coven heads did what they could in M.A.G.I.C. The Boiling Isles were a mess with the civil unrest. But on this side of the world? The human who governed the demons was nice, drank demon blood, was competent in his job, and randomly promised carnie passes to his teenage part-timers like a parent promising candy to their children once chores were complete. Perhaps it was all a masquerade? Maybe he was pretending to be a benevolent king to gain the population's loyalty and avoid death? Just how many demons knew their king was human? After the whole mess with the Day of Unity, some random witches would react venomously to Luz's presence.
The door opened. 11 demons marched their way in, servants carrying wrapped gifts of various houses. Ameri and Iruma stood up to meet them. Andrealphus and the Mammon siblings quickly kneeled before the group. King would have repeated their move if the compiled aura coming from the group weren't so magnetic. The eyes shined in the dark indoor storm.
"Hi, everyone!" Iruma opened his arms.
The storm cleared. Soon, a group of 30-year-old adults in casual suits went to warmly greet him and Ameri.
"Iruma! So great to see you!"
"Doing great as usual, Kingy!"
"Iruma-kins! Check out the toys I brought!"
"Master Iruma! I'm so eager to celebrate your very first Pre-Natal Celebration!"
"Ameri, how are you doing? You eating well?"
"Gyari says hi."
"What great form you have today, my king!"
"Alright, alright!" Iruma laughed. "You guys must be exhausted! How about you sit down and drink a bit?"
"Indeed!" A pink-haired male demon quickly sat up on the armchair closest to the King's seat. A green-haired demoness with unusual energy bounced on the third chair. Soon, the Thirteen Crowns sat in order: a short blonde demon with his tall, sultry blonde wife and their small child on her laps, a purple-haired bland demon who nearly faded into the background, a short fluffy owl, a demon snoring face first on a floating cloud, a demon with mountainous muscles, an icy haired demoness with glasses concealing her eyes, a lion-headed demon with a muzzle covering his mouth, a black-haired demon with golden rings on each finger, and a white-fur coated demon in traditional robes.
Maurice went on to serve glasses to each of the Thirteen Crowns.
"Mammon!" The short blonde demon recognized Maurice. "It's been a while!"
"Lord Shax." Maurice bowed.
"Great to see you again! I heard from your folks that you got ranked Vau just before the end-of-terminus. Good work!" Shax gave him a thumbs-up. "My God, you guys remember our first year? When we had to be Daleth-ranked by the end of our first year to keep the Royal One classroom?"
"Yeah, let's not start talking about school memories when we're supposed to be celebrating," his wife gently said.
"Good point, Elizabetta…" The gold ring-bearing demon said.
"Who is this?"
The icy-blue haired bespectacled demoness had actually noticed King. King gulped as he felt eleven new pairs of eyes staring at him. For a guy wearing detection-warding glasses, he stood out. His fur shivered…
"He's my guest. His leg got injured from the fall. King's staying with us until he gets better," Iruma calmly explained.
They just blinked.
"Our king is hosting King…" Shax enunciated. "What a coincidence. A kid named King is staying at the Demon King's crib."
"The silhouette reminds me of someone…" The really muscular demon leaned on his seat. "Something about the horns…"
King gulped.
He felt his horns getting heavy. Magali had jumped on him from behind, grabbing his horns with her hands. She threw a mirror at his face. She turned his horns to gold. She gripped them again, turning it silver.
"Whoopsie!" Magali giggled loudly. She turned King's horns back to normal and somersaulted onto the floor. Each step she took altered in golden, silvery, and bronze hues before disappearing. "I'm so messy!"
The child on Elizabetta's lap clapped their hands, giggly at the jester. Magali twirled the jester staff around her fingers, bounced it on her shoulders, tossed it in the air with her tail, and caught it in her hands. Bronze sparkles flew at the staff's motion. The Thirteen Crowns applauded her quick entertainment. The golden-ringed demon, in his own weird sense of humor, threw a rusted coin at Magali. The moment it touched her fingers, Magali was rewarded a golden coin.
"Nice try, Jazz." Iruma smirked. "Magpie the Deviquin doesn't do cheap tips."
Magpie the Deviquin? King wondered. It must have been Magali's stage name.
"Akemi just loved her performance! Right, sweetie?" Shax tickled his child's belly, making Akemi laugh.
Iruma got up, silencing everyone.
"My friends! The clock has struck, so we may now begin the Pre-Natal Celebration!"
Andrealphus put down an empty carton box. Magali's touch turned it silver. She kicked it off, revealing a devi got chewing on hay next to a table holding a goblet of burning water.
"Uh… what's with the goat?" Shax asked.
"Our guest suffered from some blood loss and, in all fairness, I'm carrying a half-human child." Ameri explained. "Magpie will extract some blood from this here devi goat."
Akemi pouted and hugged their dad. A loud bleat came from the goat. Akemi hid their face in Shax's shirt until the animal started chewing on hay again. Magali showed off the double-syringe in her head and squirted the content into the goblet. The steam coming from the goblet started to turn red.
"Customary to demon traditions, those who sacrifice blood in a goblet of burning unholy water are blessing the baby's upcoming birth with a taste of their own lives," Iruma said. "The sacrificing parties provide tributes before the expecting parents and the latter drink from the goblet once all blood and tributes have been sacrificed." He sighed. "Who came up with this tradition, again?"
"The former Demon King, my king!" The muscular demon chuckled.
"Of course…" Iruma rolled his eyes. "Cutting up your friends for you baby…"
King tilted his head. Iruma did seem… uncomfortable by that tradition, yet he continued it. Was he trying to force himself to follow it? Force of habit? Or did he not want to hurt his allies' feelings?
King skipped the whole 'tribute' thing. Maurice hinted to him that his blood donation was enough as a gift… for now. He watched the Thirteen Crowns take turns, sparing some blood into the goblet and presenting their 'tributes' for the royal's expected child. Andrealphus stood by the royals, announcing the Thirteen Crowns.
"Asmodeus, Lord of Fire and Loyalty."
"My Demon Queen and King. Master and friends." King thought that Asmodeus eagerly addressed Iruma too much. Asmodeus held out a golden lantern ornated with amaryllis and snakes. "My tribute on behalf of myself and the Asmodeus family. A lantern to guide your child on their path to the throne."
It went on. Clara Valac, the green-haired Lady of Games and Chaos, throwing a huge, goofy plushie with a pouch matching her dress's bloodline ability to 'give Iruma-kins and Lady Red hair's baby a whole lot of games to play'. Sabnock Sabro, the muscular Lord of Determination and Honor, showed off the king-sized bed he had built for 'the Demon Heir to rest well and prepare for challenging conflicts' (King was impressed by the bed's workmanship). Lied and Elizabetta Shax, the Lord of Senses and Chance and the Lady of Love and Seduction, presented all the various baby clothes they had purchased, regardless of the fact that the Heir's gender was unknown (King didn't understand why Iruma blushed at the mention of frilly, fluffy outfits). Kerori Crocell, the blue-haired bespectacled Lady of Performance and Beasts, presented a kit of baby skincare products, which the parents really appreciated. Jazz Andreas, the Lord of Theft and Wealth, presented a beautiful rocking devi horse that caused a lot of demons to wonder if he stole it until he showed his receipt. Agares Picero, the cloud-floating Lord of Sloth and Ground, gave the parents a set of knitted purple blankets with a pattern of lilac clouds and a blood moon (King thought it was sweet when Agares admitted that he cut himself knitting it). Caim Kamui, the owl Lord of Manners and Depravation, provided an etiquette book (why would a baby need an etiquette book). Goemon Gaap, the furry-headed Lord of Swordsmanship and Storms, nearly gave Iruma and Ameri a panic attack by giving an authentic katana until he revealed that it was for the Heir in adulthood and that the real sword came with a harmless, plastic, baby-proof version for practice. Soi Purson, the purple-haired bland Lord of Music and Invisibility, touched the parents with a customized music box. And finally, Allocer Schneider, the lion-headed Lord of Wisdom and Mischief, gave an assortment of educational picture books.
Ameri was certainly grateful. Iruma was holding back tears.
King watched them take turns drinking from the goblet of burning unholy water flavored with 'blood sacrifices'. Both drank a half from the goblet and didn't flinch from the heat. That goblet had to be as hot as a bonfire, or worse, a cup of the Boiling Isles.
They transitioned to the table. Maurice and Andrealphus pulled chairs for the Thirteen Crowns while Magali entertained the small Akemi. King found himself sitting between the Queen and Lord Sabro. King stiffened whenever he felt the demon eyeing him.
"What… kind of demon did you say you were?" Sabro asked.
King couldn't possibly give him that answer.
"Perhaps it would be more fitting to ask the question another time," Ameri stepped in. "King's recovering from an injury and blood loss during our stay. He doesn't need to stress during such a nice moment among friends."
Sabro lowered his head. "My apologies, my Queen."
"Master Iruma, have you finally decided when you'll announce your child's gender?" Asmodeus gleefully asked.
"Or at least a spill about the nursery? What kind of nursery are you building for your kid? It has to be fun!" Shax said.
"Oh…" Iruma hesitated. "Well…"
"Iruma-kins, you'll make a great daddy!"
King noticed it. The stiffness in Iruma's position and the way Ameri was starting to look nervous. The Thirteen Crowns couldn't resist asking baby-related questions. Ideas for names? Creating a charity in the Heir's name? Sending the Heir to Babyls? Would Iruma's grandfather spoil the Heir?
King!
King was confused. Why did… he hear its voice? Why was his head tingling from within? Why did…
King! What's going on? I'm not… Something's not right! Something's not right!
The voice…
King looked at Ameri. She was visibly worried about her husband's attempts to hold in his panic attacks.
Her stress was sensed by her baby…
"Stop it! You're stressing him!"
King didn't mean to do it. Why he was worried about this stranger's health, he didn't understand. He didn't understand why he balled his fist and brought it against the table. What he DID understand, however, was that his strength broke the table into thirteen pieces, startling the Thirteen Crowns and the royals. Magali instinctively shielded Akemi. Maurice ran to check on his sister.
King panted and choked, seeing the mess he caused. He saw Ameri and Iruma staring at him, stress gone but worry in their eyes. Andrealphus pulled King away from the damage.
That's when King noticed he dropped the detection-warding glasses, leaving him exposed.
Only a few demons among the Thirteen Crowns gasped.
"I don't believe it…" Allocer gasped.
"King, are you OK?" Iruma rushed to check on King's hand. "You're bleeding!"
"Master Iruma…" Asmodeus began.
"Azz, not right now! Somebody get me bandages for him!"
"You gave your Heir such a gift!"
Iruma looked over his shoulders. "Asmodeus…" He warned.
Lord Sabro walked over, gasping at the sight of King. "I can't believe it. My king, you found him?"
"What are you talking about?" Iruma asked.
"That child…" Sabro started to cry in excitement. "That child is one of King Derkila's Titans!"