Chapter 3: What did the fish say when it hit the wall?
Lilith is the demon queen with great powers and tremendous beauty. Her long black hair flows down her back to the mid-waist which perfectly outlines her curves. It falls thickly against her fragile pale skin which reflects the luminous firelight. Her piercing red eyes sit large and framed with heavy lashes which overcast her other small features. She carries hefty black wings which protrude unnaturally from her should blades. She looks like an older version of my Lilith, the Lilith I knew. Although she is petite and fragile looking, she claims the presence of those around her with her authority. The demons, who are loudly chattering and laughing lively, fall silent as she enters the area.
“My lady,” the fish like creature gurgles as all the demons bow before her.
“Rise, friends! We gather here to celebrate our truce with the human hunters. We hope that we are able to sustain this peace for another hundred years! Rejoice and welcome our new comrades,” Lilith says with a humbled embarrassment. Since she has only recently ascended to queen hood, she is not yet comfortable with the public speaking. Hollows eve is a wonderful party that celebrates the signing of the treaty every year between the humans and demons that was set into place one hundred years ago. “I brought some guests for us to welcome this year,” she blushes as she steps aside to reveal three men in heavy wolf furs. The men on to the left and right both carry full armor with massive swords. They both looked uneasy among the demons. The man in the center, however, only carries a slim dagger. He bears a wholehearted smile and blight aqua eyes which are indecisive about whether they want to be green or blue. His masculine frame is apparent through the thin armor which was covered in the wolf’s fur. “Let me introduce to you, Prince Aaron and his two generals, Simon and Xan,” Lilith first motions to the center then from left to right. The two general give a hesitant smile but Aaron grins widely. The crowd bursts into a roar of welcome as they swarm the three humans excitedly. This was Lilith’s second treaty signing with the humans but it is their first year to join in on the festival. The two generals remain rigid as the demons came forward. Xan briefly touches his sword before tentatively interacting with the demons. I stand among the crowd, an invisible bystander, simply watching the encounters.
Lilith exhales gratefully at this reaction. This encounter could have easily started a war. Her only wish is to connect humans and demons together into a society because she loves the humans. She wants all the demons and humans to be able to interact freely. I could feel her deeper desires leaking from a place she must be keeping secret from me. She desperately craves a peace between the two species so much so that she wants them in one utopia together. After all the welcoming to the new comers, the party comes on with full force. There is singing and dancing, talking and drinking in the excitement of the evening. Some of the demon women even approached the handsome prince and the generals for a dance. At first the generals refuse, but after some persuading from the prince and a couple drinks, they happily jump into the event. Lilith sits in an elegant chair full of golds and various shades of silver. She stares out on the event with a hopeful heart. She zones out, and I can sense that she is reminiscing her past.
She remembers back to last year’s signing when she first met Aaron at the young age of 110 years old. Demons have long lives which can span over five centuries, unlike the humans. Living for this extreme amount of time compared to the humans has given demons an insight to the human species and with this understanding the bonds of friendship began to form. Last year’s signing was the hundredth signing in history in which both queen Lilith and prince Aaron had sat down to negotiate land usage and trades. Aaron had been a very kind person to Lilith and they gleefully spent many nights together talking amongst themselves. Aaron soon became something special to Lilith.
A hand rested against Lilith’s shoulder and she jumps out of her revelry. She glances up into a pair of kind aqua eyes. A faint blush colors her face as she looks down from the brilliance that flows off of him. I instantly feel her deep desire for Aaron.
“Prince Aaron!” Lilith says surprised as she looks at the warm hand that gently touches her. He pulls it back as her glare intensifies.
“Excuse me, Queen. It seemed as though you were sleeping. I didn’t want you to miss the fun!” he says with a sheepish smile. He bows partially and holds out a hand. “Will you dance with me?” Lilith looks up at him with a dazzled look. Her face is bright red as she takes his hand. Her heart was beating out of her chest while they took center stage of the dance floor. Lilith can feel all the eyes on her back by both the humans and demons. This is appropriate for the occasion, isn’t it? I hear Lilith’s thoughts in my own head. That’s really weird. Upsetting the balance between the species, is not something Lilith would ever do. They twirl gracefully under the astounding sky taking captivating leaps and dips. Thump! The faint sound of Lilith’s laugh spreads through the forest as the magnificent dance ends with Lilith very clumsily tripping and landing on her back. The entire audience breaks into a roar of laughter. Ha! I laugh in my head. I can relate to being overwhelmingly clumsy. The laws of physics must be written around the ways I fall down.
“That’s our queen!” one of the demons yell in amusement. Jeff, you’re cruel. Lilith thought sourly, instantly recognizing the amused demon’s voice.
Jeff is a comical fish demon who plays as Lilith’s adviser. I realize that the demon that I had first noticed when I entered the field is that same demon. Lilith and Jeff had grown close to each other after the passing of Lilith’s parents a year ago. He had been her mother’s adviser before hers. Jeff often helps with peace interactions between the humans and demons. Lilith is quite fond of him for his blunt sense of humor. He doesn’t understand the appropriate time to crack a joke, but that’s something that Lilith treasures. He’s extremely useful in tense negotiations because he always brings a smile into the crowd. Jeff was there for Lilith’s first conflict with the humans. A tribe of people had encroached on demon hunting territory and the local demons where threatening an attack if they did not back down. As the Queen of the demons, Lilith made a point to oversee all peace settlements. A group of five heavily armed humans stood large and menacing over the three demons, Lilith, Jeff, and the local leader.
“We ask that you halt hunting in demon territory,” Lilith said firmly with a hint of aggression. I can feel Lilith fear in this situation. This is her first peace settlement so she doesn’t want to appear weak, then get pushed around but she also doesn’t want to start a war. She treads on such a thin line.
“And what if I say no?” said the bulkiest human, eager to battle. He glowered at them, twitching towards his massive sword. Lilith rests a hesitant hand on her blade in response, feeling a bloody outcome.
Jeff yawned and his mouth pulled widely open revealing a comical image. I’ve never seen a fish yawn before. “Hey, Wanna hear a joke?” he said excitedly. Lilith was irritated. This was obviously not the time for one of his stupid jokes. “What did the fish say when it hit the wall?” he looked around. This was his utmost favorite joke. Lilith heard it almost every day. She looked at him with her “Jeff, stop it,” face which she’s developed exceedingly well. Jeff met her gaze, but continued to ignore her. “Lilith! What did the fish say?” he said breaking into one of his dense smiles.
At this rate Jeff won’t stop until he hears Lilith repeat the end of his joke. She heaved a heavy sigh, giving in. “dam,” Lilith said for what seemed like the thousandth time. She slowly removed her hand from her sword because all tension had leaked from the area.
The group of humans all deafeningly busted into laughter. “You’re a funny fish! I’m sure we can work something out,” said the bulky man. They ended up working out an agreement after that. Although Lilith had been irritated for a while at Jeff, she did eventually feel gratitude toward him.
Lilith made a mental note to visit Jeff later. She hasn’t been to see him in a few weeks because of the preparations for today’s event. Aaron’s laughter fills Lilith’s ears, blocking out all other thoughts. The sound is a wonderfully low noise that vibrates in Lilith’s heart.
“Queen! Are you alright?” Aaron’s brow is furrowed in both worry and humor as his hand extends toward her in an offering of help.
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“I’m wonderfully embarrassed. I’m both graceful and overwhelmingly clumsy at the same time.” Lilith says as she grasps the outstretched hand.
The force which pulls Lilith upward is much more than necessary to get her upright. She falls forward into Aaron’s smooth chest. She can feel the heat under his thin layer of clothes. “You are overwhelming endearing, my queen,” he says as he pushes a lock of hair that had escaped behind Lilith’s ear. Lilith takes one big step back, bug eyed and crimson.
Lilith loves all humans. They are kind, warm, and welcoming. They are innovative; creating things like clothes, toys, and art. She loves to watch them grow over the centuries, make families and pass on their lives to their children. Human children are Lilith’s favorite with their pure heart and free spirts. This human, Aaron, brings a much more complicated form of love to Lilith. A desire to not merely watch him but to interact with him. She doesn’t simply desire to watch him be happy but to make him happy herself. This yearning is new to Lilith and it’s frightening but also welcome. I can tell by the way Lilith acts that she is in love with Aaron. In my mind, I subconsciously connect this romance to something I would see in a high school drama film. It radiates a superficial and over emphasized love story that obviously won’t last until the end.
Since Lilith has never been in such a situation before, she has no idea how to act. She simply laughs and continues on with the conversation. “Indeed,” she says overpoweringly flustered. Not ready to look Aaron in the eyes, she stares upward toward the sky. The Milky Way dances with a colorful dress amongst the stars flirting with the suborn moon. The moon lay full and luminous in the center of the sky. Center of the sky?! Lilith kicks herself inwardly. She had lost track of the time. Its past midnight and the treaty must be signed by day break or the truce becomes void for this year.
“Prince! The time has escaped me. We must hurriedly proceed to the negations,” Lilith chokes out, rushing her word. She began to push Aaron to the negation area.
“My lady, we have plenty of time. Do not rush for hast makes waste,” Aaron said soothingly putting a hand against the small arms that propel him forward. “You don’t want to be wasteful, do you?” he edges his face closer to Lilith’s. He stops only inches from her, lets out a low, breathy chuckle, and pulls back. “Your expression is quite amusing. You look like you just ate something excessively spicy,” he remarks.
Lilith is extremely shocked at the sudden proximity to her. She could feel her face burning but she can’t allow herself to become distracted again. “This is not an appropriate time to be teasing me. You know full well that these negotiations can take several hours to settle. We must begin if we want this treaty for the next year,” Lilith urges onward. Aaron simply shrugs in defeat and allows Lilith to push him forward. “Oh! I almost forgot. We must bring your generals,” Lilith says as she begins to retrieve them.
Aaron halts her. “This year, we will sign it alone,” He explains as he motions for Xan to stay. “Let them enjoy this party. It’s their first one, after all.” Aaron walks beside Lilith not needing the push forward any longer. Lilith thinks about Jeff. Every year he has come with her to sign but she feels this year will go so smoothly that she won’t need him. She looks over her shoulder to see him shamelessly flirting in the crowd of demon women. He’s having a good time. I’ll leave him here this year. Lilith thinks to herself. I feel regret flowing from her as she relives her experience. They reach the edge of the clearing and pass through the trees. They arrive in a small wooded area shortly after. There sits a single stump in the middle which they proceed to sit around as though it were a table.
The negations begin with the discussion of trade. The humans want to expand trade to the east with Europe and China. Lilith agrees under the condition that it does not affect the trade that is currently in place. It then moves on to discuss the various conflicts of the eastern regions and how they can be address. They both decide on heavier cultural interaction and laws against violence. This takes a large chunk of time out of the meeting spanning nearly two hours. It slowly begins to roll to an end, however, Aaron starts insisting on more conversations over certain topics which were already decided on. This is highly unusual in the negations to continue talking about a subject when an agreement has been reached. It seems as though Aaron just wants to push the time limit.
When all talking falls silent and dawn is imminent, Lilith feels it is time to sign. “This took much longer than last year, don’t you think?” Lilith questions as she prepares the needles. The signing is done with a prick of each party’s blood. This is done because it binds the signer’s to an oath which physically restricts them from break it. She takes out a needle and offers the second one to Aaron. He produces no move to take the offering. “Come on, take it. We haven’t got much time,” Lilith urges. He makes no move. Lilith looks up into his eyes. A brutal fear clutches her core. His eyes burn with a furious hunger for violence. Intense Aqua eyes hold Lilith down, mentally ripping her into pieces. This is an expression Lilith has seen before, during a much more gruesome time. This manifestation was plentiful during the human and demon war. It resembles a form of greed which has not yet tasted the dissatisfaction of what it yearns for. “Don’t do this Aaron,” Lilith says sorrowfully. “You are too kind to withstand the hardships of war and too young to understand the cost of victory,” Lilith continues cautiously keeping her sword within reach. I sense her discomfort in the situation. She understands humans too much to not know what’s happening. Her words appear to touch his thoughts briefly before being tossed away. He has resolution to do what he came for. Lilith takes a commanding stance. “Aaron, one female demon can destroy hundreds of human men. Don’t be a fool because I’m not the enemy. Why sit down to form an agreement when you don’t intend on abiding by it,” Lilith says persisting with logic and underlying threat.
“I need this land to expand westward and sharing isn’t something I do. The demons here are in my way. Do not fret, Lilith, I am no fool. I know of the strength you carry with you, it’s why you are the demon queen. I have been more than capable to deal with you this far,” Aaron says both smug and excitedly. His flirting was all an act to keep Lilith off guard. It worked terrifyingly well because Lilith holds the special ability to trust and love unconditionally. What she saw in Aaron was his devotion to people and his kind heart toward her but she was undeniably wrong.
These are the things that my little sister would feel. Lilith is a demon but she still holds the traces of who I remember. Is this a way to show me that my sister is still here in a way? As if in response, Aaron motions for the shadows in the trees to approach. It’s the two generals, grimy and wet. They look as if they are splattered with cranberry sauce or red paint. Why are they covered in cranberry? This is hardly the time to go out gathering! Lilith thinks. A switch in Lilith’s head forcibly turns on. She, very numbly, looks toward the swords that slowly turn toward her. Blood. The swords are drenched in blood.
She doesn’t give herself time to think, she simply uses her super-human speed to dart through the forest back to the party. Blood. Severed limbs lie in tree branches, heads were separated from their bodies, and blood, an overwhelming sea of blood. Blood! The party had ended and a war had started. Lilith stands in the field numbly. She can’t yet fathom what had occurred. They were her family, her friends, and her citizens. Everything that made her smile lies on the ground before her, destroyed. No. please, no. why them? Why not me? Just me. An unnoticed tear slips down from her right eye. Lilith began to move through the carnage hoping for someone to survive. Anyone to survive. As she moves disconcertedly, a small motion caught her attention. She rushes toward it. Jeff, the fish-like demon, lays belly- up with a deep gash spreading from shoulder to hip. Lilith falls to her knees, unable to hold herself up. She grasp his hand softly. He very faintly looks at her. “Such a pretty face shouldn’t be so sad,” he feebly attempts to wipe away the stray tear on Lilith’s cheek. He gives his signature dense grin. “What did the fish say when it hit the wall?” he says slurring his words. He doesn’t have much time. No, Not Jeff. He’s the one person Lilith considers to be her family. Jeff is like her older brother, always protecting her, making her smile, and teasing her. He has been with her since day one and he has stayed with her through it all. He was there to comfort her after her parents’ passing. He was at every meeting and every decision, guiding her to the right path. Even now, as he lies there dying, he cannot bare the thought of her crying.
“No, Jeff, you are going to be okay. I promise. I’ll make you better,” Lilith frantically searches for an ounce of hope near her. She places her hands on his wound and beings to apply pressure.
“Lilith, what did the fish say?” he croaks out straining to respond. His voice almost seems to be scolding Lilith for not responding promptly. He looked earnestly into her eyes, trying to convey a message to her. His last feelings were told from that look. The overwhelming pride he feels to be her adviser, the hope of a peaceful future, and the burning desire for Lilith’s happiness is all crammed into a single look.
“Dam,” Lilith whispers heavily as a faint breath escapes him and he goes limp. That was the moment that she snapped. She curls into herself trying to remain whole. Wails escape her uncontrollably. She undeniable loves her kind. If only I had taken him with me. I could have saved him. She had lost all her friends, neighbors, collages, and the adviser and administration of her nation. A majority of her nation is gone. All that is left is a few distant demons who were too busy to attend the party. She sits there for several minutes undisturbed, blaming herself.
A rustling of the bushes came from the woods. Lilith makes no motion to move or to even look up. Aaron takes confidant strides forward. The crunching of the leaves is muffled by the blood that coats them. Lilith feels his evident chuckle as a body plops sideways. He had kicked it. In that moment, something inside of Lilith crumbles. Her pride, her kindness, her love, and her future fall away to reveal a sinister being that claims the depth of her soul.