The Woes of a Demon King
Chapter 13 Crazy
Jaune sat down in his study spinning a quill on his finger absentmindedly. Jaune was busy thinking about what had just happened with that Adam fellow. 'I was wondering why his name seemed so familiar to me. The Taurus demon clan.' Jaune thought remembering the once great Taurus clan. They had been one of the strongest demon families of the old age. The Taurus clan was most noteworthy for being a clan of Minotaur's. The Taurus family was once the guards of the Demon World mostly defending the royal families and aristocrats of the Demon World. That was before the humans had gotten hold of them. Back before the Millennia of Darkness, just before the Human and Demon Worlds merged together; the humans had developed a magic that let them pull beings from the Demon World into their own. One of the many beings that got pulled over where the Demons of the Taurus clan.
The humans had seen the Taurus clan as mindless animals even though they were humanoid like. The Taurus clan had slowly been dragged into the Human World over the years till the Millennia of Darkness. After that the Taurus clan had faded into nothing more than a forgotten demon clan. Still the remnants of the Taurus clan had been left as nothing more than the scraps of the old age that no longer exist. Really the Taurus clan was just a relic of the past, but to think that they had become a clan of half human half demon beings. 'I would say how the mighty have fallen, but that Adam boy was the first person of this generation capable of hurting me in a fight.' Jaune thought leaning back in his chair before flicking his quill up into the air.
Just as he did this to door to his study opened to reveal Ozpin.
"Well that was an interesting young fellow."
Ozpin said making Jaune roll his eyes at him.
"Right interesting." Jaune said sarcastically before looking to Ozpin. "So what did you do with him and his weapon?"
Jaune asked while Ozpin sat down in front of him.
"I opened a teleportation portal back to Menagerie and I let him keep his weapon."
Ozpin said surprising Jaune who quickly narrowed his eyes at him.
"You better have a good explanation for that." Jaune said sternly leaning forward onto his desk. "I can understand sending him back to Menagerie, but letting him keep his weapon is a bad idea."
Ozpin simply shook his head at Jaune.
"You know that sword is tied to the Taurus family just like that boy. Would you really take away the one symbol of his family he has left?"
Ozpin asked making Jaune click his teeth in frustration.
"Damn it Ozpin, that sword is a cursed demon blade. Whether it belongs to the kid's family or not isn't important! Having a sword like that out in the open isn't smart!"
Jaune shouted in frustration only for Ozpin to shake his head at him.
"Please Jaune calm down, I know far better than you do of what that sword can do, you should trust my judgment on this."
Ozpin said calmly making Jaune run a hand through his hair in frustration.
"Ozpin I always trust your judgments, unless they involve princesses." Jaune shot at Ozpin only for him to shrug off the quick jab. "I just can't help but feel uncomfortable with something as dangerous as that sword sitting in the human world."
Jaune said only for Ozpin to shake his head at him before standing up from his seat.
"Are you uncomfortable because you know how dangerous the sword is to humans or because you know how dangerous the sword is to you?"
Ozpin said solemnly before turning and walking out of the room leaving Jaune alone. Jaune just sat behind his desk staring down at it sadly before clicking his teeth and standing up. 'Shit, why does Ozpin always have to do that?!' Jaune thought in frustration leaving his study and walking down towards the garden. It was bothersome how Ozpin always tried to read between the lines of every conversation. Still Ozpin had been right. Jaune was worried about the sword seeing as it could be used to kill him. Most if not all the ancient demonic blades had the power to harm him. He hadn't been worried about them in his early years as the Demon King up till his tenth year of ruling. It was the first time a Demon Lord had revolted against his rule and tried to take him from the throne.
At the time the Demon Lord who revolted had no followers till he challenged Jaune to a duel while wielding one of the demonic blades of his lineage. That was the first time Jaune had been wounded in a fight save for the time he fought that dragon. Still Jaune had a difficult time fighting that Demon Lord. That was the first time that the Demon Lords who disagreed with Jaune's rule first got enough confidence to stand against him. Afterwards Jaune had to deal with that first revolution of theirs. It was difficult and if it wasn't for Ozpin and the other Demon Lords who served under him he wouldn't have come out of that ok. Still that was 20 years ago, and there have been smaller revolutions like that, which were dealt with by the Lords on Jaune's side. He hasn't had to fight for 18 years now thanks to those Lords.
Still each time a revolution started it revolved around a Demon Lord bringing out one of the ancient demonic blades. Those damned blades were a pain to deal with. It was horrible especially seeing as the demonic blades were supposed to be used to defend the Demon King, not kill him. Jaune really hated the way things were going for him. Walking into the garden he jumped up into the Blood Oak to get some rest. 'I'll think more about dealing with that Taurus boy and his sword later.' Jaune thought before leaning back against the Blood Oak and closing his eyes.
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Sun found himself sweeping the store room of the trade ship Andromeda with Neptune and their new mentor Blaine. Sun swept in one corner while Blaine and Neptune moved some crates around.
"Hey I've been meaning to ask this Blaine, but we are slaves, right?"
Neptune said getting a nod from Blaine.
"Yep we are called slaves, why?"
Blaine asked looking back to Neptune as they set a crate down in the corner of the store room. Sun stopped sweeping and leaned forward onto his broom stick so he could listen to the conversation.
"Well, it's just I don't really feel like a slave. I mean this feels more like standard servant work. You also said we get paid for the work we do, I don't ever remember hearing about slaves being paid for their work."
Neptune said as the look of realization hit Blaine who nodded at him. Blaine turned around and leaned back against the crate that he just placed.
"I guess it's to be expected that you wouldn't understand the way the Demon World works." Blaine said getting slightly hurt stares from Sun and Neptune. "Don't think of that as an insult its natural that you didn't learn of the Demon Worlds current affairs. Let me explain things to you."
Blaine said only for Sun and Neptune to share a look before shrugging at each other.
"Alright, first off tell me how many of the other slaves on the ship do you think are human?"
Blaine said surprising the two men before thinking back to the other slaves. Neptune was the first to answer as he raised his hand.
"All of them right?"
Neptune asked only for Blaine to shake his head. Sun chipped in this time flicking his tail up next to his hand.
"Half of them."
Sun said coincidently only for Blaine to shake his head at him as well. This surprised the men who just stared at Blaine for the right answer.
"You two are the only human "slaves" on this ship." Blaine said doing air quotes with his fingers when he said slaves. Sun and Neptune stared at him in shock having not expected to hear such a thing. "You see, while slaves still exist in the world Dark Chocolate doesn't use human slaves, she doesn't like doing that. She thinks in the same way the current Demon King thinks. Humans are an equal species to demons."
Blaine said as sun and Neptune stared at each other in surprise. Sun quickly turned back to Blaine.
"Wait, then does that mean everyone on the ship who's a slave is a demon?"
Sun asked only for Blaine to shake his head at him.
"That isn't true, see in the Demon World there are all kinds of species who can mimic the human and demon form, some of them are slave's others aren't. It all depends on the type of creature it is. Most of the slave species in the Demon World are creatures who if not watched closely would rampage across the land killing demons and try to spill out into the Human World."
Blaine said shocking Sun and Neptune.
"Wait a minute, if that's true then does that mean the Demon World keeps slaves to try and protect themselves from these creatures?"
Neptune asked watching Blaine nod his head.
"Yep, and the demons who are slaves are normally slaves of their own choosing." Sun and Neptune were shocked again sharing a confused look before turning back to Blaine so he could continue explaining. "See demons all have a chance of Falling, a term we use for demons who let themselves fall into bloodlust and hate, reverting to their monster forms. Most if not all the demon "Slaves" choose to become one of their own volition so they didn't Fall."
Blaine said while Sun and Neptune just took a minute to take in the new information they learned. They were pretty shocked by this having not expected such a thing. While they may be slaves Jaune had told them that they would be let go after a month. Now that they thought about they weren't slaves they were more like indentured servants. They were just paying for breaking into Jaune's castle and saying they would fight him. They really needed to apologize to Jaune the next time they saw him.
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Nebula and her team walked out of Castle Ren to head off and confront the Demon King.
"Right, let's get this suicide mission done with!"
Dew cheered sarcastically getting a glare from Nebula while Octavia and Gwen just stepped back to keep away from the two partners.
"Come on, it's not a suicide mission it's just a very difficult mission."
Nebula said only for Dew to roll her eyes at her.
"I understand that it's just why does it have to be the Demon King?"
Dew asked getting understanding nods from Gwen and Octavia while Nebula just groaned.
"I understand what you're saying but let's remember we don't have to fight the Demon King, we just have to go and save King Li's daughter. He said we don't have to fight unless there's no other choice but to fight."
Nebula said reassuringly only for Octavia to speak up.
"True, but still even if we fight we just have to pray to the Goddess of Victory to guide us in battle. This is why I'm our cleric remember."
Octavia said flicking a pendent on her hip that had the symbol of a shield with a spear running it through. Gwen pat Octavia's shoulder nodding at her.
"She's right, the spells she learned when she became a cleric under the Goddess of Victory are definitely going to come in handy."
Gwen said getting nods from the other girls before Nebula spoke up again.
"Well I guess we have those to fall back onto if we get into a pinch, but here's to hoping things go well." Nebula said waving a hand to the side before smiling at her team. "Alright team NDGO lets go and save ourselves a princess!"
Nebula cheered getting an eye roll from Dew how just smiled at her while the other two teammates cheered with her. With that team NDGO was on their way to confront the Demon King and save Princess Lie Ren.
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Jaune sat up in the Blood Oak, arms behind his head resting till the sound of Ruby's voice calling out to him drew his attention. He turned to look down from his branch to see Ruby right below him waving at him. He wasn't sure what she needed but he jumped out of the tree to meet her. He landed right in front of her making her yelp in surprise taking a step back before collecting herself and patting her dress down.
"Hey Jaune, what are you doing up here all alone?"
Ruby asked looking over Jaune and at the Blood Oak to notice a strange cut in the tree that hadn't been there before.
"No reason, just enjoying some peace and quiet."
Jaune said not really wanting to let Ruby know what happened with that Adam fellow. Ruby just looked back up to Jaune slightly worriedly.
"What's wrong? Whenever you come here to relax its usually because someone did something wrong."
Ruby said having seemed to figure Jaune out. He just chuckled at her reaching a hand up ruffling her hair.
"I guess I am a pretty transparent guy huh." Jaune said with a small smile before turning to look over the garden. "I just had a little disagreement with Ozpin is all. We don't seem to see eye to eye on a matter concerning a certain demon."
Jaune said and it wasn't a complete lie seeing as Adam Taurus was a half demon. Ruby hummed in thought at Jaune's words before smiling at him.
"That reminds me of how my dad and Uncle always argue about demon stuff."
Ruby said surprising Jaune as he turned back to her corking a brow up.
"Really does your dad or uncle hate demons?"
Jaune asked only for Ruby to shake her head at him.
"Oh no, my dad and uncle really don't see anything wrong with demons. It's just whenever dad was a soldier he and my uncle fought a lot of demons and the two argue over which demons they think was stronger to compare their strength to each other."
Ruby said getting a laugh out of Jaune.
"That's a real brotherly bond your dad and uncle have."
Jaune said getting a smile from Ruby.
"Yep, even thought my uncle and dad aren't real brothers they bicker like brothers do."
Ruby said with a fond smile remembering the times her father and uncle fought over who got her and Yang better presents on their birthdays. Jaune just smiled glad to see Ruby such a good family. It reminded Jaune of his own family. He remembered the times his sisters would fight over who would get to spend time with him. It was funny seeing as Jaune always ended up getting dragged around and pulled into trouble by his sisters when this would happen. It was funny really seeing as his sisters only ever wanted to have fun when they were with him. It was nice, even if they were a few decades apart in age. Jaune was still a kid at heart.
"Well do you mind telling me the name of your father and uncle?"
Jaune asked only for Ruby to smile at him.
"I don't mind at all." Ruby said with a bright smile. "My dad is Taiyang, I bet you can't guess where Yang got her name from."
Ruby joked getting a laugh out of Jaune.
"I need a few minutes to think up an answer."
Jaune joked back getting a smile from Ruby who just snickered holding a hand before her mouth cutely. Jaune kind of felt weird thinking that about Ruby when he was practically 50 years old. Still if he thought about it properly he's like a dragon aging slower than most meaning he was only 18 years old in dragon years.
"Well jokes aside, my uncle's name is Qrow Brawnwen he's Yang's moms brother."
Ruby said surprising Jaune. He stared for a few seconds not saying anything eyes slightly wide confusing Ruby. She was about to speak up before Jaune shook his head.
"Well that's pretty interesting name; I only thought demons would have a name like Qrow."
Jaune said getting a confused look from Ruby before she shrugged.
"I know, my uncle joked that his parent's named him Qrow to make people think he was a demon to scare people off."
Ruby said getting a nod from Jaune.
"That's pretty terrible if you think about it, his name must have caused him some trouble in the past."
Jaune said turning from Ruby who nodded at him.
"Yeah, he said he got into fights a lot as a kid. But thankfully he learned to fight back himself. He was actually the person who taught me how to fight with a scythe."
Ruby said happily getting a small nod from Jaune.
"Well, if he taught you then maybe you can show me what you can do with a scythe some other time. For now, I have to go and deal with Ozpin K."
Jaune said turning away from Ruby to walk out of the garden. She just waved at him.
"Right sorry I took up your time!"
Ruby called only for Jaune to wave her apology off.
"Don't worry about it!"
Jaune called as Ruby lowered her hand staring at him questionably. 'I wonder what got into once I mentioned Uncle Qrow.' Ruby thought before shrugging and moving off to find Yang.
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Jaune just walked down the halls looking for Ozpin while he cupped his chin in thought. 'So Ruby's Uncle is Qrow Branwen huh. Who would have thought her uncle was a demon. But from what Ruby said that means Yang is a half demon.' Jaune thought having not expected such a turn of events. Jaune remembered Qrow having been friends with him years ago. If Jaune thought about it Qrow had a sister who would always wear a stupid Grimm mask. He remembered she would never take it off in front of him. He never saw her face, but he remembers Qrow joking to him that she wore the mask because she was embarrassed to show him her face. He never understood why but that was just what Qrow told him.
Now that Jaune thought about if what Ruby said then that meant he knew who Yang's mom was. He hummed in thought for a minute. 'Qrow and Raven Branwen, I'm pretty surprised they would be in the human world.' Jaune thought before figuring he would continue the train of thought after he found Ozpin and told him about this new development.
End
AN/ hurray I finally got off my ass and made a new chapter for you happy little reader people. Free cheers, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! Ok now i have important stuff I should say. First the last chapter is said I didn't know Ren's parents names and that was true. Because I wrote that chapter before actually seeing Ren's parents and their names. So now that, that is out of the way the next thing I should say. I am sorry for the long wait I got caught up writing my other stories so I kind of put this one on the back burner for a while. Sorry about that but as you see I am back after 3 weeks of waiting I did a chapter. So hurray! Now onto the normal stuff.
Leave me a review so I know what you happy little reader people's brains are thinking of the story so far.
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