Chapter 3: True to a Promise
Then the young king felt someone touch his shoulder, "It's time to go, Yuuri…"
'What?'
Before he could even turn to see the mysterious man, everything disappeared. Or was it him who disappeared?
"Don't worry, 27th maou, everything's going to be just fine…"
--
'So this is how it feels like to be dead… I never knew that it could be so peaceful and relaxing, and, and so…wow… I've never felt this good before…It's as if I'm in heaven…oh wait, may be I am in heaven? But it's weird though, I can't see anything but…white?'
"Try opening your eyes, may be you'd see some things other than white…" someone said, sarcastically.
"Huh?" Yuuri then tried to open his eyes and to his surprise, the person who was playing, 'Mr. Sarcasm' here is none other than….
"Shi-Shinou-heika??????????" Yuuri was almost speechless. This guy is supposed to be dead, not only dead; this guy is supposed to be gone!
"I'm glad you remember me, baseball kid…" He smirked.
--
"Yo-you- you can't be here?" Yuuri was now having difficulty breathing, which was really weird considering that he's already dead.
"Why can't I be here? This is my sanctuary. I've planned for this for four thousand years. I made this dimension totally separated from my and your world. I built this for myself so that I can have somewhere to stay when you defeat me…" Shinou replied casually.
'I never knew this guy could be so casual.' Yuuri thought.
"Casual huh? And oh don't be surprised if I can read into your thoughts and feelings, this is my sanctuary after all, I have complete control of everything here, even you." Shinou smirked again.
"But how? Why?" was all Yuuri, could ask,
"Well let me explain… A soul could never die nor be destroyed, it can only transform, just like that law of conservation of energy subject matter that you study in school, so you can't have killed me that time, because I'm already dead; you just defeated me. But like what you already know, I've orchestrated every necessary event in your lives in order for all of my plans to come to fulfillment, so since I already know what was to happen, I got prepared." He explained.
"Okay, so this is your sanctuary, then what am I doing here?" Yuuri asked.
"Good question. Well Yuuri-heika, it's like this… everyone on the world of the living give promises, right? And when you promise, you should live up to it, right? We, demon kings are no exceptions… In fact we are obliged to fulfill every promise that we make… but then all of us die as well, and with us dying, there are some promises that we miss to fulfill, and that's why you're here…" Shinou made clear. "Hmmm…so may I ask you, before you died, did you make any promise to anyone that you were not able to accomplish?" Shinou asked, as if reminding Yuuri of something…
Yuuri was drawn deep in thought. And then he remembered something, "Wolfram, Shin Makoku survived without me or Shinou for four thousand years. The Mazokus can survive without me… You can all win this even without me. Hey, I'm not the one controlling your bodies to move or breath, it's you. So you can live without me as king. And besides, I can't fight the whole army of Big Shimaron alone! I need every single one of you to win. I'm the one who needs you. And besides, I would never leave Shin Makoku alone. I will watch over Shin Makoku and protect every mazoku inside or outside the borders of Shin Makoku, like Shinou did, for all eternity…"
"For all eternity…"
"For all eternity…"
"For all eternity…"
"All Eternity…"
"Eternity…"
"Oh no…" Yuuri realized what was happening is a very serious matter. "Shinou, do you mean to say that…"
"Yup! You will be watching Shin Makoku for all eternity. In other words, no eternal peace, no rest, and waiting like this until the world ends! But don't worry, I'll be with you, I also made a fatal mistake as what you did… I never knew that it would end up like this, well actually I did, but I wouldn't have guessed that you'd end up here too…" Shinou smiled again.
"Wait, so you mean will be here forever? But that's just stupid! We won't even be able to watch over Shin Makoku from here!" Yuuri exclaimed.
"Oh but we won't be staying here…" He smirked, again! How can someone smirk so…so….
Shinou then grabbed Yuuri's hand and dragged Yuuri into an open portal. "Whoaahhhhaaa!!!"
"Hey you can't just drag people into portals without informing them! That's just- …..Amazing…." Yuuri was surprised. He was back, back in Shin Makoku. And right now, he was facing a huge monument of himself! Although in this statue his striking a dramatic pose while holding Morgif, now that's pretty, I know…weird? And what's with the fountains and the water lilies? What am I, a girl? This doesn't even look like a shrine to me, its more of a, uh… garden?
"Always remember Yuuri, don't underestimate Shinou. That's a warning." Shinou huffed. This guy actually huffed. "Now, incase you don't know where we are, we are in Blood Pledged Castle. I know, I know, you think it's not because you don't have any huge statues like this before, but you know, many things can change after one year."
"Okay, I understand. Wait, wait, wait…What? A year? But-but but that's not possible, I mean I just- I, uh, it's been a year since I died?" Yuuri asked dumbfounded.
"No not really, what I meant was, it's only been a year since they built this monument. Actually, you've been dead for a year and 5 months now. The new maou had this built in honor of your great love and devotion for Shin Makoku." Shinou explained.
"Wait, but how? I don't remember anything about waiting for a year or something like that, did I? And I-uh, the last thing I remember was…was….I was in my funeral, I was watching everyone as they bid me farewell, and then suddenly, someone-wait! That was you, wasn't it? You're that man who…was….but why? You say it's been a year ago, but how?" Yuuri asked. It's was obvious that he was confused.
"Whoa! Slow down kid! One questions at a time, I'm Shinou not God!" The man replied.
He sighed. "It's like this. I took you from your funeral because it takes time to reform a soul. You have to reform your soul, why? Because your soul has been damaged, by what? Your negative emotions like, sufferings, hatred, sorrow, etc…so you have to reform to a wandering soul since you're going to wander, for all eternity. Yours took a year, that's pretty long…Mine only took a few weeks. That's because you are a reincarnated soul. All the sufferings that your soul had gotten through those lives that you had left a scar, so you have to somehow, recreate it, it's kind of a natural phenomena so you can't stop it, or delay it…"
"Oh…that's a relief, I thought I was in some kind of trance or something like that…." Yuuri sighed with relief.
"Okay then, let's proceed…" Shinou then dragged Yuuri into another portal.
--
"Where are we now?" asked Yuuri as he got out of the portal.
"Why don't try to look around?" suggested Shinou, sarcastically.
Yuuri then looked around. This atmosphere was kind of new to him. It's so peaceful, calming actually… And that smell, the aroma of fresh lilies breath within the walls of the huge room. And he noticed that they are standing in a red carpet leading to a…glass coffin?
"What's that in thing in the middle of the room?" Yuuri asked.
"Try seeing it for yourself." Was all Shinou's answer…
Yuuri, anticipated with what was there to see, walked up slowly to the glass coffin. As he went closer to the coffin, his steps became faster, as if he had no control over them.
The young ex-maou then bit his lip with his eagerness overwhelming him. He then closed his eyes as he was 3 steps away from the coffin.
He stopped. His heart was almost pounding out of his chest with anxiousness.
He gently opened his eyes and peeped inside the coffin. "Oh my god…"
"Is this true? Or are my eyes just fooling me?" was all Yuuri could say as he saw himself inside the coffin! It was his body lying in the coffin!
"So they preserved my body…"
"You know what? You don't look so much of a dead person in that coffin if you'd ask me. And what's with the lilies? Though I got to admit, you do look good in lilies… And Morgif seems to have weakened without the maou holding him. Just look at him, he looks even worse than what he looked like when you were handling him." Shinou meant it as a joke, but I guess a four thousand year old king is not good with jokes…
Then Yuuri remembered something. "Wait, why is the demon sword here? Isn't the new maou using him? And who's this new maou?"
"Shin Makoku needed a new ruler, and with you not having any successor, they decided to host a contest." Shinou replied.
"A contest? What kind of contest?" Yuuri asked.
"Actually, it's an all-around contest. The theme of the contest is whether you are Yuuri-like or not. You know, the whole, peace-loving king, powerful maou, and kind-hearted sovereign, the typical you… And only one person was able to comply with their requirements." Shinou answered.
"And who is that?" Yuuri was curious. Not that he thinks that high of himself but, who exactly is this person who replaced him as maou?
"Andrei Ne'voucce. One of the sons of a noble man here in Shin Makoku. Although his family is not a member of the ten aristocrats, they are one of the most powerful families here in Shin Makoku. And you know what, his also a double black…" Shinou explained.
"A double black? Then why is he not recognized or something like that?" Yuuri asked again.
"Because, baseball kid….He is not one of the royal bloods. That's the kind of discrimination here in Shin Makoku even before you arrived here. That's just how things go…so don't ask why, I'm tired of answering every whim you have!" Retorted.
Yuuri just sighed. "Fine then I won't ask you anything, nor am I going to say a word. But at least tell me what's been happening here in Shin Makoku. How is everyone doing?" Yuuri asked.
"Fine with me, in fact, I'll just show it to you..." Shinou smirked again!
"Huh? What?" Before Yuuri can get any answer, he found himself inside his old office.
--
"Wait this is my-"
"Your office, yes. And that is the new Maou. The 28th Demon king of Shin Makoku, King Andrei Ne'voucce, doing paper works and actually enjoyed it…" Shinou pointed at the young man sitting in his desk, signing some papers.
Yuuri was, surprised. This guy was too good to be true. He had a long black hair with black eyes. This guy looked so majestic and intelligent. And he looks strong judging from his built. And his gentle face… as if he was an angel that fell from heaven. And he looks kind of like the great sage. (Not Ken Murata, the real Great Sage) Yuuri couldn't keep his eyes off him even for a second.
Then someone knocked on the door. "Can I come in, Andrei-heika?" The man asked.
The maou smiled. "Of course, Gunter…"
Yuuri's heart bitted faster again.
"Here is your tea, heika…" Gunter then placed the teacup on Andrei's table.
"Shinou, we're ghosts right? So they can't see us, right?" Yuuri asked.
"Close enough… Now, let me update you with the recent events…Well after you died, Big Shimaron asked for a ceasefire, since they lost battalions of troops. And when Andrei became Maou, he forced them into alleging to Shin Makoku, and a peace treaty was signed and this time it's for good. As for Gunter here, well he got over with the whole, Yuuri-obsession thing with the help of the new maou, without obsessing with Andrei, of course." Shinou retaliated
"That's good… I'm telling you, Andrei is lucky. Gunter's obsession could get a little out of hand…" Yuuri said, a little disappointed with the fact that he was never going to experience Gunter's tender loving care ever again.
"So you miss it, right?" Shinou supposed.
Yuuri did not answer.
And then another man knocked unto the door. "May I come in, sire?"
The man's voice was familiar as well. As the man entered the room, Yuuri shivered. It was Gwendal.
"So, how's the paper works, heika? Have you signed them all?" Gwendal asked.
"Well not all of them…" Andrei snorted. "There's just this one thing that I can't decide on. It's whether I am going to sign this proposal for the renovation of Blood Pledged Castle. It says here that because of the monument we built for King Yuuri, we had no more space for the other troops to train. So the letter suggests that we expand the Castle's territory. But that would cost too much. And I think we should reserve the funding for our industrial project in Shin Makoku. So what do you think? Should I reject this or not?" Andrei asked.
Yuuri was impressed. This guy really has the brains. If it was him, he would have signed that proposal without even reading it.
"I agree with you, Andrei-heika." Gwendal was actually, pleased?
"Thanks, Gwendal." Andrei then stamped it with a REJECT!
"Well, Gwendal here was also very much upset when you died but he has to stay strong. He is regent to the throne after all. Until they haven't found a maou yet, he will sit as the maou and take on your responsibilities. That's why when Andrei here, was crowned Demon King, Gwendal was relieved. Right now, he's still obsessed with knitting, but his skills have improved a little. Take a look at that stuffed sand bear there. He made that himself." Shinou then pointed at the stuffed animal sitting at the couch. It really looked normal for the first time, considering the fact that Gwendal knitted it.
"Now then let's get going…" Shinou then pushed Yuuri into another portal.
--
"So, where are we now?" asked Yuuri.
"We're in the castle gardens, where else? And there is Lord Weller playing catch with Dorcas, now that's so sweet…" Shinou forced a laugh out.
Yuuri then turned to the two men playing catch. It somehow reminds him of the times when Conrad and himself would play catch.
Yuuri saw the smile in Conrad's face. It was the smile of being content. Complete. It was not the smile that the man use to give him, but it was genuine. He can clearly say that Conrad is happy, even without him.
"You see Yuuri, 'Mr. Enticing Eyes' here, was very much saddened by your death, but then he found himself a new baseball pal. Yozak was too much of the strong person for playing catch. The first time Conrad tried to teach him how to play, he broke 5 glass windows, 4 statues, 10 wooden antique furniture, and one baseball bat, everyday." Shinou laughed. "I guess Mr. enticing eyes got tired and lost his huge patience that's why he sticks with Dorcas."
"That's good."
--
"Well, look around you…Do you recognize this place?"
"Oh no…" Yuuri trembled. Could it be, are they really in, "Annisuna's laboratory??????"
"Correct. I'm impressed that you recognized this place even though they've made some little renovations..." Shinou mused.
"Little renovations??? That's stupid! Just look that this place. It's gone from little laboratory to Humongous Facility!!! There's so many equipments, an-and, and so many inventions!!!! Scary inventions!!! This is beyond of what I would have imagined!!!" It was true. This laboratory was a hundred times bigger than it use to be. If it wasn't for those weird looking, gigantic inventions, he wouldn't have recognized it.
"So, then let's continue. This is Annisuna's Laboratory. I know, I know, it looks different and much, much bigger. You see, Andrei noticed that Annisuna's inventions will be a big help to the country's economical rise, so he gave Annisuna her desired funding and renovated her lab, so that she could create more gadgets and stuffs. And believe it or not, her inventions worked pretty well lately. Her Make-me-some-harvest-kun was a huge benefit to the farmers here in Shin Makoku. It only requires a small amount of maryoku and even little kids could use it. I can clearly say that this was Annisuna's break through." The Original king laughed.
"What's so funny?" Yuuri asked back.
"I just remembered something. Come, I want to show you one of Annisuna's new inventions." Shinou then pulled Yuuri.
--
"What's this huge door for?" Yuuri asked as he came face with an oversize door after walking a few meters with Shinou.
Shinou then opened the door.
"Hey that's…"
The revealed the most unusual scene that Yuuri never expected to see. "Annisuna? Murata? And what's that metal-looking thing?"
"Well Annisuna forced Mr. Know-it-all into testing her new invention, the Yuuri-bot!" Shinou replied.
"The Yuuri, what?" The maou asked confusedly.
"The Yuuri-bot! It is a robot that she made in your memory. She programmed it to make people happy. And when I say 'happy' I mean make people laugh."
"So she made me look like a clown?"
"Oh come on kid, she even made it look like you…show some appreciation." Shinou laughed out loud.
"It's not funny!!!" Yuuri snapped. But we can't really blame Yuuri. The robot looked silly! It's wearing a frilly doll dress and walks like an idiot.
"So Lady Von Karbelnikoff, what are you waiting for? Impress me." Murata said, as if trying to provoke Annisuna.
"Of course Geika," She then started the engine and the robot started to talk.
"Good morning Murata! What do you call a fly with no wings? A walk.
Why was the Tomato blushing? Because he saw the salad dressing.
How do you catch a squirrel? Climb into a tree and act like a nut.
Why didn't the skeleton cross the road? Because he didn't have the guts to do it.
Why didn't the chicken cross the road? Because he was too chicken.
What do John the Baptist & Winnie the Pooh have in common? Their middle name.
Why are there so many Smiths in the phone book? They all have phones.
Why don't cannibals eat comedians? Because they taste funny.
"Waiter! This coffee tastes like mud." "Yes sir, it's fresh ground."
How do you catch a unique rabbit? U Neaq up on it.
Two sausages are in a pan. One looks at the other and says "Gee, it's hot in here." and the other sausage says "OH MY GOODNESS IT'S A TALKING SAUSAGE!"
What do you call a sleepwalking nun? Roamin' Catholic.
What is the last thing that goes through a bug's mind as it hits a windshield? His butt.
What's the difference between a mosquito and a fly? A mosquito can fly, but a fly can't mosquito." The Yuuri–bot blabbed non-stop.
"And when I thought that things couldn't get any worse, this is stupid! That robot is the ugliest-looking thing I've ever seen! And those jokes are so darn lame!!! I'd rather die than hear it!" Yuuri covered his ears with embarrassment.
And then Murata started to laugh. "This is a great invention Annisuna-san! Even though it looks quite funny, and attempts to make people happy, I think it's great. " Then tears started to fall from Murata's eyes. "It really does remind me of Shibuya, a lot." He said as he wiped his tears away.
"Murata…"
"It makes people happy, and reminds them to stay happy, like he always did…" Murata the stood up from where he was sitting and shook Annisuna's hand. "Thank you, Annisuna-san…"
"I am honored, Geika." Annisuna replied.
Yuuri was touched. He never knew that his friends really missed him that much. It wasn't fair. He didn't feel even a little grief in those times that they miss him. Here he was excited to see them all again like nothing happened, having been awaken from his long sleep. He didn't even feel the sorrow of having to loose some one who was very dear to them for a year now. It was unfair. How come his the only one who didn't suffer for more than a year, why?
"It's time to get going Yuuri. We've got many things to attend to." Shinou then closed the door to the room.
--
"Now, give me a guess, where are we?" Shinou tried to cheer up Yuuri.
"Hmm…" Yuuri thought for a second. "Aha! The Castle infirmary!"
"Correct! And do you recognize those people over there?" Shinou turned to Gisela who was teaching Adalbert how to bandage a wound that hit the arteries.
"It's… It's…Adalbert! And Gisela! What are they doing?" Yuuri asked.
"As you can see, Gisela is training Adalbert into being a medical mazoku. It all started the day after your funeral. Adalbert realized that if only someone in those troops were a good healer, you would have been saved. But there wasn't any Mazoku healer in those people. All of the medical mazokus are in the camp, so it took Gunter some time to call for Gisela. And that's why you died. That's why Adalbert decided to be a medical mazoku like Suzannah Julia did, and asked Gisela to train him personally." Shinou sighed. "You know some thing, while your soul was till in the process of reformation; I always roam around here in Shin Makoku and the biggest controversy that had been circling around here in the Castle is… The engagement of Von Grantz to Gunter's daughter." Shinou simpered.
"What? But that's impossible!!!" Yuuri was beyond surprised with the news.
"Oh but it is, baseball kid. The scary healer and beef cake here are getting married, believe it or not." The Original king said in reply.
"But how? How did they-?" Yuuri made a defeated sigh. "Okay, okay, it's been more than a year so I guess many things changed."
"Very good, you understand… Now…Who else did I miss...hmmm…" Shinou asked himself. "Well I guess that's it, I've shown you how everyone is doing, so now may be we can head back to my sanctuary and take a little rest. I'm telling you; eternity is quite a long period of waiting…It would be tiring…"
"Wait a minute, you haven't shown me everyone yet. How about Lady Celli, Hube and his family, Lady Flurin, Greta, and-"
"Well you see, since you died, Lady Celli has been taking Greta with her on her trip to pursue free love so that she won't be depressed here. Right now, their in the Von Spitzberg territory, and as surprising as Gisela and Adalbert's engagement, Stoffel is growing quite fond of your daughter. As for Hube, Nicola, and their daughter, they're doing okay, living in peace. And Lady Flurin is alright, she's kept her promise to keep Shin Makoku and Caloria's bond as strong as ever, well may be not as strong as before, because she's really not in good terms with Andrei for some reasons but their fine. They're all fine. It's just that I can't transport us outside the borders of the capital. You see, since you defeated me, my powers have grown weaker so I can only transport us in places with short distance. So we might as well go then, I need some nap from all those portal things, it really tires me out a bit…" Shinou yawned.
"What about…Wolfram? I'm sure that his not somewhere far from here. I know he won't leave this place. I can feel him, he's here in Blood Pledged Castle, but I can't put a finger on where, but I know his near! Take me to him! Take me to Wolfram!" Yuuri demanded.
"You know what, besides the great sage, you were the only one who ever dared to yell at me that way… And that's why I like you kid…"
Shinou released a defeated sigh. "You know what? I was afraid that you were going to ask that…"
Yuuri flashed Shinou a confused look.
"Well, baseball kid, you asked for it. Don't blame me when you regret asking for it…" Shinou then opened the nearest door to them and transformed it into a portal.
"Good luck…"
--
Now that's it! Chapter 3!!! Hahahaha!
Wow, It took me sometime to finish this one!
So tell me, was it okay?
Well, please review… and make guesses on the next events, thanks…