Chapter 23

You Can Tell Me, I Won't Laugh ( End Of Vol 1 )

When I finally woke up, just like Lucy had predicted, we were out of the pit. At least… I know I was. In a surprisingly comfortable chair, I found myself sitting at a nice wooden table with a plate full of veggies. A glass of milk and another glass of… freshly squeezed orange juice? The table was filled with all kinds of… normal meats, veggies, and fruit. To my left was an empty seat with a barely touched plate of food and drink.

“That must be Lucy’s place at the table,” I thought.

On the other side of the table were her mother and father enjoying their meal.

“You’re finally awake,” The mother began, calmly. “So, can you tell me your name?”

“I’m Adam, Your Majesty.”

“You’ve manors, then this will be much easier. Go on Adam, eat.”

“Thank you.”

Doing my best not to scarf it down, I was sure to savor every bite.

“Oh, my goodness, veggies, and fruits never tasted so wonderful. If I knew hell had had such wonderful foods I’d come here sooner.”

A slight lie but not really… maybe. It caused her silent husband to almost spit up his drink.

“You… don’t belong here, child.” He said, with concern in his eyes.

“No child does so… unless they're rotten to the core," The mother said. "You wouldn’t be able to stay even if you wanted to.”

“Then… where would I go?”

“Heaven… I’m sure,” He said.

“But then there’s the matter of your presence here,” She began. “I’ve seen your life and I’m aware of no murder. Even if the death of that Henry fellow that poisoned you was technically your doing.”

“Dear, don’t you know how to speak to human children?” He whispered. “They hadn't had so many years to mature, yet.”

“That’s shit and you know it.” She snapped. “He’s more mature and respectful than Lucy and that’s saying a lot. Need I remind you that all the guards were stripped naked and turned into women? She was eating a man’s flesh and now she’s betrothed to this heaven-bound boy who's so innocent that he probably doesn’t even wipe his own ass.” Some of that was… false, but I calmly ate as if I couldn’t hear them whisper yelling. Though I was happy to hear Henry did poison us, at least… knowing that he was the one to have done it. My thoughts were cut short when the Queen cleared her throat. “Adam, I think what’s keeping you here is that ring. Feel free to take it off.”

“I… can’t Your Majesty. Going to heaven is not my goal.”

Though I’m pretty sure the ring wasn’t keeping me here.

“I’m… sure they have better food in heaven, child,” She cooed.

“It’s not the food I’m interested in,” I said.

“My mother?" The woman began. "She is far too old for you.”

“That’s,”

“You want to go back home, right?”

“I do but,”

“Then take off the ring,” The woman said as if I was stupid.

“Your Majesty," I began. "Am I to believe… Lucy… is your mother?”

“That’s correct.”

“So she is the Queen or… the Empress?”

“Neither… The Hall family... has made it illegal for there to be any Queens or Kings anywhere, not in heaven nor hell.”

“How… is that possible?” A question that caused me to hesitate thanks to Elyon quizzing me on my own question.

“The Kingdoms ruled by the Chaton and the Orcs almost brought about a horrible change in power for both the living and the dead. The Hall family however proposed a plan to fix the problem… at the price of every Kingdom aside from the Hall family, dethroning their Queens and Princesses, and killing all Kings and Princes. Recognizing the Hall family as the one true royal bloodline for all races forever. Still, the Hall family’s demands did not end there. All of the dethroned Queens and Princesses at the time were ruthlessly forced and tricked with immortality. But allowed to do as they pleased as long as they don’t rule. Breaking said law, would result in the same punishment as the Queen of Orcs and the Queen of Chaton; stripped of everything and solitude forever.”

That didn’t answer my question as to how my family had so much influence over everything. It made me a tad uneasy as I said, “I see…” I looked to my left seeing that Lucy still hadn’t come back to her seat to finish her meal unless it was all just a ruse to make me assume she was set free. There was the option of telling them my royal last name, however, I had no proof and I felt it would just put me in danger so I didn’t. That’s if they didn’t already know but for the moment, I was going to practice withholding information. With so many paths presented to me, it was hard to know what was the right one. Right now the only thing keeping me from being touched was this ring, however… what if this ring was also the thing keeping me from going back home. And if I did get back home, how would I take care of Kimi? “Uhmm… Might I be excused for a moment, Your Majesty? I fear I’ve drunk too much.”

“You may.”

Giving a nod and a slight wave of her palm, a guard stepped to my side. It was the same smiling and half-naked woman from before. Truly creepy if you ask me. She took my hand and we walked me from the dining room, quickly making me confused by how she was able to touch me without getting shocked. Aside from the dark but well-crafted design of the hallways, it was pretty uneventful until I found myself in a new room.

“Where are we?” I asked the guard who stood next to me.

“Why, this is a bathroom.”

“I’m… not really in need of a bath… but a pot to urinate. But more importantly, can you take me to Lucy?”

“I cannot… you’re not to leave the castle.”

“Castle?!”

“Yes, a castle.”

She replied with the same glued-on smile. I cleared my throat, regaining my composure.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“I see… then… can you bring her here?”

“Yes.”

She reached down to take hold of her black underwear. Alarms fired off in my head as the hairs on my neck quickly stood up when I had a strong feeling she was going to birth Lucy here.

“What I mean to ask is… can you go get her… and walk her back here.”

“Of course.”

She gave a bow before leaving the room. I stood there alone, taking a few deep breaths before speaking to myself.

“Is hell supposed to be this strange?” My gaze landed on the bowl sticking out of the wall, a little higher than my chest. Gazing at the two knobs I saw, my hand reached out and turned the blue one. Right before my eyes, water started spilling out. I quickly turned it off before turning it back on. Letting it run, I stuck my finger in it. “There’s… cold water… coming from the walls… and it… disappears at the bottom? That’s amazing.” I turned it off before turning the other knob. Letting it run over my finger for a moment before I said, “And this one's hot water!” It took me a while to figure out the full purpose of the room when Lucy finally came walking in and behind her was the guard.

“Having fun?”

She came in with a wide-eyed smile and her knuckles to her hips.

“Lucy, this room. It’s…”

“I know, I’ve lived here my whole life. That’s a sink, not a water spout and that’s a toilet, not a water pot. And that there is a shower, not a rain bather. I’ve been watching you this whole time through the ring and I gotta say, you sitting down when you pee is strange… even stranger than us having bathrooms where souls spend their undead life as toilets.”

“Uhm Okay… Is there another way to pee?”

She quickly broke out into another laughing fit. I stepped close and covered her mouth.

“Please, Lucy. You’re being too loud. This room aside,”

“Bathroom,” Her word, muffled.

“Bathroom aside, I thought those two were your parents.”

“Nope, those are my stupid kids.”

“But… their… so much older… looking than you. And bigger… Why are you still so small?”

“I’m the Devil, I can quite literally take any form.”

“Well... why this?”

She peeled my fingers from her lips.

“I’ll tell you if you wash your hands. You have horrible hygiene you know.”

With a nod, I went to the sink. There was a soap dispenser that smelled like lavender. Lucy snorted and started into another laughing fit. My cheeks became flushed.

“That’s too much soap, idiot. And place the ring to the side.”

“My apologies! I can tell it’s soap I… just never seen it in a liquid before. And the fact that it’s lavender is simply wonderful.”

She leaned up next to the wall watching me with a smirk and her arms crossed.

“Anyway… They told you about Kings and Princes being killed… well, your shitty family might have saved the world but they destroyed mine… both my son and my husband.”

My excitement was blown away, replaced by pain in my chest. “… I’m sorry.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t your fault unless... you’re the reincarnation of someone I hate. As for why I’m small… I kill myself sometimes. For anybody else, they would just be reborn from whatever that could birth them. For me… I just start over as a baby. Yea, I’ll lose most of my power and forget my past but… I always seem to remember the love of my life and my world. You kind of remind me of both of them… so I gave you that old ring. It’s priceless so take care of it.”

It was a lot to take in. My gaze panned from her to the running water over my hands before the ring. And right before my eyes, it slipped into the sink and down the drain. Lucy and my eyes locked on each other before she snorted and started laughing again. Fear had washed over me for a moment but her laughing seemed to calm me. Even if it was bothersome.

“Please, can you retrieve the ring?” I asked the guard while franticly turning off the water.

“Of course.”

The guard made a large black scythe appear and with one swing, she sliced the air between Lucy and me. After just one swing, she simply stood there doing nothing else with the scythe and Lucy was still holding her sides, finishing off her laughing fit with a few more chuckles. When I opened my mouth to speak, the room split apart. It all happened so quickly that It took me a moment to realize I was falling as the castle around me crumbled. Everything fell into what looked like a bottomless gash in the ground. That’s when I spotted it, the ring. While not the most important thing at the time, I instinctively reached for it. It had no sentimental value to me, but I couldn’t help but wonder how I would feel if I watched Alais die before me, and all I had to remember her by was a ring. Or… what if I died and left her all alone. I didn’t like the thought, correction, I don’t… like that thought, not then and not now. High above me, flashes of light could be seen blinking in and out rapidly until finally, something zoomed past me, leaving behind streams of blood. Soon a severed hand came near me along with the scythe the guard had used. I grabbed the ring, the scythe, and even pocketed the guard’s dislocated hand. With a clap, I felt someone grab me by the hand and pull me close.

“Hey, how’s it going, klutz?” Lucy asked. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why she was still giggling, although she stopped when she looked me in the eyes. “Are you about to cry? You do know you can’t die in hell right?”

“Alais… is going to be alone… because I wasn’t careful. She warned me, and now no one will be there to look after her. That’s how you must feel every second, that’s why you want to die. Kimi told me she wanted to die too. When I think about Alais wanting to die… it makes me want to as well… but I’m already…”

“You’re such a baby," Lucy said with a small smile. "If you wanted to go home, all you had to do was ask.” She grabbed my hand, holding it in front of my teary-eyed face. “You see this ring?! This means you’re my property… and if my property wants to go see his friends… what kind of owner would I be?” I was taken aback by her words for meany reasons but what mattered most was her willingness to help me. After wrapping my arms around her neck I hugged her as tight as I could. She went on to say, “You know a kiss is much better than a hug… but whatever.”

“Lucy!”

I could hear a scream from Lucy’s daughter. She was high above us, speeding in our direction.

“I thought I locked you in the pit!” She yelled.

“I came back to get my property and like I said before! Fuck your pit!”

To me, she was but a speck in the black sky surrounded by falling rubble. But what I could see was a massive hand of fire, hooking around from Lucy’s daughter and coming straight at us. Lucy took the scythe from my hand and with one smooth motion, the massive fire hand was sliced away, along with the massive canyon wall behind it. Flipping us around, her gaze scanned for something, for some reason seeming less interested in the ground that was getting closer and closer. Finding her target, she flung the scythe, sending it spinning beneath us. Her target was hard to see, but for a moment I swore I saw the guard’s mangled corpse. The moment the scythe struck it, a blinding beam of light erupted from the canyon floor and bathed us in its glow. I closed my eyes as tight as I could and when I opened them, we were standing in a ring of light that pierced the sky. At my feet, I could see not only grass but also I was in clothing I had never worn before. Most importantly, Lucy’s ring was back on my left hand.

“You sure you’re a boy?” My eyes quickly looked up to see Lucy standing in front of me with the scythe sticking up out of the ground like a black pool of death. “You’d think you’d be a bit happier to be home.” She mused.

“I’ve… read enough book to know… this is where the hero leaves forever. Perhaps even leaving behind a sacred object.”

“Me a hero?” She began with a chuckle, “You think I’m just giving you my Mere so you can go on a killing spree? Not gonna happen… You’re far too sweet for me to let those little hands get dirty. Just… keep that ring on, okay? I’ll be resting in it for a little while. That means I’ll be able to watch you… not wash your hands.”

The rain started to fall from the sky, although none of it seemed to touch me.

“What about… that guard woman? Isn’t that her scythe?”

“Nope, her name was Mere and Mere is the scythe. You’ll see her again I suppose.”

She handed me Mere and took a step back to look me over.

“You know… Black halo, black dress, black scythe… You look adorable." She glanced to the side and said. "And... I think your friend over there has the hots for you, looking like that.” Lucy chuckled before she finally vanished.

My gaze slowly scanned to the side as the wall of light that surrounded me, faded into nothing more than rays of light beaming from the black rain clouds in the sky. There I could see Alais standing in the heavy rain, staring back at me with wide eyes and a missing arm.

End Of Volume 1

While there is a volume 2, currently there are no plans to make it free to read or published until after a few more years. Though that may change depending on the story's supporters.

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