19.
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'Til the End of Millennium
Chapter Four: The Difference Between Me and You
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NEITHER KYO KARA MAOH NOR D. GRAY MAN IN ANY SUCH MANNER OR WAY
NO PAIRINGS
Author's note:
It was REALLY hard to write this chapter so it's not as... good as the other ones.
Also, thank you Broken Alice and Nella Moonblood Royalle! Your comments inspired me to actually finish this god damn chapter!
Sangria: Blue dress and green hair
Lazania: Green dress and red hair
Doria: Red dress and blond hair
*Previously...*
Gunter spoke up, gravely. "In the future, don't drink or eat anything we haven't prepared. You never know you can be trusted."
"So you're saying that I can't trust a girl who gave me a drink of water out of kindness but I trust you wackos who keep saying I'm their king?" Allen deadpanned.
"And yet you still trust us enough to follow us to our capital," Konrad noted.
"Well, yeah. Even though I don't trust you very much, your still more trustworthy than the first few people I met." Allen shuddered.
"Do I... REALLY have to go through with this?" Allen asked as he rode in front of the party. They were all now close to the "Demon tribe" capital Gunter had been speaking about for the last one hour, and Allen could already hear the faint trumpet playing in the air as well as mingled cheering and shouting. Allen was beginning to feel quite nervous.
He had never been in the focus of so much attention for a very long time. The last time something like this happened was when Allen was still traveling with the circus. He remembered having had the opportunity to work alongside many of the main performers as an assistant. This was mostly because his cursed arm gathered much attention from the audience and rumors of an actually cursed child helped increase circus ticket sales.
"Yes, you must project a confident image towards your people," Gunter instructed. "How do you expect the country to react if they see their future emperor being coddled by as mere attendants?"
"Gunter," Konrad chided. "Do not be so harsh." Turning to Allen he said, "Don't worry, he's a gentle horse. You'll do fine."
"If you say so..." Allen muttered as the party had finally reached the entrance of the capital. As they passed under it Allen summoned up his courage and readied his heart as much as he could for what might come.
The trumpets were now blaring in full blast as Allen rode along the path that was lined with brown horses on both sides. Triangle-shaped flags of different colors poked out from behind the sharp angular cottage-like houses that seemed to have been carved from the rock, itself. Yellow confetti were thrown from the air and onto the pavement below and the cheering became even more deafening.
"Welcome home your majesty! Oh, never forget that all the world began with us, the Demon Tribe!" Gunter exclaimed loudly and proudly over the shouts and well-wishings of the citizens.
"So not only are you a wacko, you're also a snob," Allen muttered. (Un)fortunately, Gunter couldn't hear him and was thus not effected by the to-be-king's harsh words.
"We will prooo~sper for eternity with the power, wisdom and BRR~ AVERY that defeated the originators! This is your country, the kingdom of gll~ ory! Praise be to the Great One, the first demon king and his peeeople!" (1)
What a pompous guy, Allen thought. He kinda reminds me of Link... not. I wonder what Link's up to right now? Had he reported my disappearance yet?
Allen was soon pulled out of his thoughts when a few girls, around 4 to five years younger than him came running up to offer him flowers. "Uh, thanks!" Allen said, stunned and a bit touched. "Thank you very much." Allen was still quite weary of the townsfolk since, according to Gunter, they WERE all demons after all. However, he guessed it didn't hurt to be polite.
Allen's cursed eye also hadn't been reacting to anything as of yet, though Allen didn't think he could rely on just that since his powers seemed not to be functioning ever since he came to this "world."
"? Who's the blond guy standing in front of us?" Allen asked. He was referring to the man who stood in the middle of the road. He was backed by a line of of soldiers who, unlike the troops that followed Allen, wore metal plate armor.
"That, my lord, is Stuffel von Spitzweg (2)," Konrad replied. If Allen was paying more attention he might have heard the underlying hate underneath Konrad's words. "He is the former older brother of the former Demon queen. He abused his position as de facto monarch. He lost his power when she renounced the throne, and will now probably try to ingratiate himself to win your favor."
... He doesn't seem like a bad guy... but if what Konrad said is true I might have to watch my back around him... Allen thought.
"But don't worry sire, we're keeping an eye on him. We don't intend to let him do whatever he likes, and I'm sure Wolfram and Gwendle feels the same way," Gunter added.
"Wolfram and Gunter?" Allen asked. "Who're they?"
"My brothers," Konrad replied. "You shall get the opportunity to meet them in person once we reach the castle."
"My lord!" a voice called out. It was Spitzweg.
Meanwhile, in Covenant Castle, three maids busied themselves in the kitchen, preparing for the upcoming welcome-the-new-demon-king brunch.
"Oh no!" one of the maids, a blond-haired, brown-eyed woman named Doria. She wore a red dress with a white apron. Her hair went down to the top of her neck where it curled inward. "We're all out of honey nectar!"
"What?!" Lazania and Sangria asked simultaneously.
"That's horrible! If we don't have honey nectar, how ever will we be able to prepare our signature honey buns?! Honey is the main ingredient!" Sangria shrieked.
"We could always make something else...?" Lazania suggested.
"NO!" Sangria shouted. "We have make honey buns! Today's lunch will be the first meal his majesty has ever had in this castle! Honey buns is the optimal choice in making a person feel warm and accepted in his environment. No other type of sweet will do in making such a loud and silent impact on our majesty! This will be our only chance to make him feel at home! BONIE!"
At the call, a skeleton on wings peered its head through the window.
Sangria quickly scribbled something on a piece of parchment and handed it to the bonie. "Here! Take this letter to the Shepard pronto! We need ten jars of honey right away!"
Spitzweg had left his position and walked up to Allen, a cordial smile on his face. "Greetings, my lord! My name is Lord Stuffel von Spitzwe, former advisor to the last Demon queen. I cordially extend my greetings!"
"Hello," Allen said in kind, holding out a hand to Spitzweg. "My name is A-"
"A-HEM!" Konrad not-so-subtly coughed.
"-Shurri," Allen continued quickly. ... Wait, was it Shurri or Yuri? And is it with two u's or two r's? Well, too late now ... "It's nice to meet you too."
"King Ashuri," Spitzweg said, sounding out the name. "What a royally fitting name for our next emperor! I'm sure you'll make a fine demon king!"
"Okay, so let me make this clear," The shepherd said, scratching his head as he sat on a fallen log. The shepherd was a squat old man with gray hair and a bushy gray mustache. "Sangria wants me to give you a HUNDRED jars of honey to deliver to the kitchen... right now?"
The bonie nodded. Yes.
"You think you'll manage to get the job done by yourself?"
The bonie shook his head. No.
"But you're still gonna do it anyways?"
The bonie nodded its head. Yes.
The old man sighed again, groaning a bit as he got on his feet. "Stay here, I'll be right back."
"Uh, thank you very much," Allen called back as Gunter urged Allen to ride on. "I guess I'll see you later?"
"It would be my honor." Spitzweg finished with a bow. The plate armor soldiers who had come to stand behind Spitzweg once more also kneeled, taking Spitzweg's lead.
Allen simply sweat dropped at the scene. Isn't that a bit excessive...?
Fly... Fly... Fly fly far on top... Fly... The bony thought as it struggled to carried the large net-bound packet holding 100
Fly... Fly... Fly...
*SNAP*
The bony looked down.
...There's nothing there.
The bonie continued flying back to the castle. Fly.
It was the shadow that alerted Allen to his coming doom. Confused as to why the sky suddenly turned so dark, Allen looked up.
"Your Majesty! Run!" Spitzweg shouted. Allen didn't need anymore persuasion as he cracked the reigns and took off running to the edge of the ever growing shadow.
Thankfully, Allen and everyone else managed to get out from underneath the shadow before it hit the ground. Unfortunately for nearly everyone in the proximity, jars shatter when they are dropped, spraying all of them with honey.
Thankfully, again, Allen miraculously, did not get hit by any honey. Unfortuneately AGAIN the back side of his horse did.
"OH GOD! SOMEONE SAVE US!" One of the villagers screamed.
"QUICK! Grab the women and children!" A second shouted.
"YEAH! WE'LL USE THEM AS MEAT SHIELDS!" another one shouted back.
"THAT'SNOTWHATIMEANT!" The second one screamed.
"QUICK! GET THE TOMATO SAUCE! WE MUST SAVE THE KING!" A fourth one said.
"FINALLY! A REASONABLE ANSWER!"
ALL OF YOU ARE CRAZY! Allen wanted to scream.
"Honey?!" Gunter asked. "Who would dare through honey onto our king?! Do they wish to kill him?!"
"Now is not the time to question!" Conrad said. "We have to save his majesty!"
From what? Allen wanted to ask, but was distracted when he saw a black cloud quickly coming towards their general direction. It didn't take long for him to guess what it was. "BEES?!" Allen shouted.
The horse Allen was on began to freak out as the bees came closer and closer to it. "Whoa there boy!" Allen yelped as the horse began jumping up in down. Apparently not able to take it anymore, the horse sprinted into action and ran at neck breaking speed up the street to get away from the bees.
"ST-TOP IT YOU MANGLY EXCUSE FOR A HOOOOORSSSSSSSSSSSE!" Allen screamed, as Gunter called out to "hold the reigns!"
"Bonie! You're back!" Sangria said, excitedly. "So? Did you get them?"
The bonie nodded and handed her the few jars it still had.
"Hmm... 1, 2, 3... 11, 12?" Sangria counted. "That's two more than I needed."
"Let's use the extra honey to sweeten up the appetizers!" Lazania said.
"We can add the extra to Lady Celi's tea!" Doria suggested. "She likes sweet stuff!"
"Easy, fella, you're alright now," an unfamiliar voice said. Allen opened his eyes to see a tall man with long grey hair pulled back in a pony tail wearing a long, green coat calm the horse down.
...Who's he? Allen thought, ...And why am I getting Kanda vibes from him...?
"YOUR MAJESTY!" Gunter cried out, jumping off his horse and quickly making over to Allen's side, holding a pot. "Please forgive me!" He continued before dropping the pot's content onto Allen's head.
"Wha!" Allen yelped as the cold, red liquid made contact with his skin.
"Your Majesty?" The grey-haired man turned around abruptly, revealing narrow, blue eyes filled with disbelief as he took in Allen's soggy appearance. "No way!"
"T-Tomato sauce?!" Allen shouted at Gunter, ignoring the Kanda-vibe-man for the moment.
"Bees absolutely hate tomato sauce," Gunter explained. "It makes them sick. So whenever "
"Is that why you and Conrad are also covered in Honey?" Allen asked dryly before realizing: "Hey, waitaminute I WASN'T COVERED IN ANY HONEY!"
Gunter blinked "You weren't? Then why were the bees chasing you?"
"The horse's back side got covered in honey," Allen explained. At that, said horse froze for a second, before pulling out of the grey-haired man's grasp and running as fast as it could away from the bees and crazy Gunter.
"WHAT?! HORSE GET BACK HERE!" Gunter shouted. "YOU MUST BE BATHED IN TOMATO SAUCE!"
Soon after Gunter left, Konrad also quickly made his way to Allen's other side. "Are you hurt, my lord?"
"Don't tell me he's the new demon king," another new person's obnoxious-sounding voice said.
Allen turned around to come face to face with what was perhaps one of the most, well, surrealist person Allen had ever seen so far. The newcomer appeared to be a boy around Allen's age with sparkling emerald eyes and blonde hair. He wore a blue uniform with a sword strapped to his side. Is he a noble or something? Allen thought. He looks more like a soldier though.
"Wolfram?" Conrad asked. "I thought you said you were going off hunting today."
"I was about to but all you people were making so much racket I couldn't help but come here," Wolfram sniffed. "But seriously, is that thing really the next demon king."
"Wolfram! How dare you call his majesty a 'thing!'" Gunter glared.
"When did you come back?" Allen yelped.
"I have bathed the horse in tomato sauce," Gunter replied.
A few yards away a shivering, tomato covered horse stood in the middle of the court yard.
"He certainly doesn't look like king material, now does he?" Wolfram said, critically eyeing Allen's strange attire. "What in the world are you wearing anyways? Is that some kind of messed up human fashion from that other world?"
...I'm really starting to like Spitzweg at this point, Allen sweatdropped. At least he was polite...
"Here is the baths reserved for the demon king, your majesty," Conrad said, opening the ornate wooden doors to reveal a large, purple bathroom covered in a warm fog and filled with the gentle sound of spilling water. Narrow windows were placed high up in the walls and sun light filtered into the room from the sky light.
After looking around the room, Allen grimaced. Though Conrad said it was the baths, it looked more like a gigantic
"This bathroom is too big," Allen said with a grimace when he looked all around the room. "Isn't there a small bath?"
"There is, but it's a bit further away from the room you'll be staying in until your conronation," Konrad told him. "Is that alright?"
"Yeah that's fine." Allen said before following Conrad down the hall. Neither of them noticed, or at least acted as though they noticed the prescence of the blonde woman hiding behind the partly open doors of a nearby room.
"So he's the modest kind, huh?" A giggle. "Too bad. And here I was hoping to introduce myself sooner... I guess I can wait, though..."
"Was your bath to your liking, your majesty?" Konrad asked when a more refreshed an tomato-sauce-free Allen stepped out of the bath.
"Yeah, thanks Conrad," Allen said.
"Your Majesty," Gunter said, a bit too loud, startling both Allen and Conrad. Allen was surprised to see a trail of blood falling from the purple-haired man's nose. "Please, your Majesty... put on 'this' garment!"
It took Allen two seconds to realize what 'this' was. Without saying a word, Allen grabbed a vase lying on a nearby side table and hit Gunter over the head with said vase, taking great satisfaction at the crunching soundGunter passes out.
Konrad looked at the scene amused. "Well, that's certainly one way to say no." He then proceeded to gesture to one of the rooms at the end of the hall. "I'll take you to your room now."
Konrad has some guards escort Gunter to his room and takes Allen to the dining room. On the way he tells Allen that the two might say some... things but to try his best to ignore them.
Is this... supposed to be a brunch? Allen thought nervously as he looked at the two apparently brothers, Gwendle and Wolfram, as they sat, giving off a tense air. Gwendle simply looked at his plate with an no expression while Wolfram was glaring angry holes into Allen's forehead. Deciding to at least attempt to get in the two good graces, Allen said, "eh... Good afternoon, everyone..."
"Your majesty," Konrad said, coming to stand between Gwendle and Wolfram, "allow me to introduce you to my big brother, Gwendle von Voltaire." Konrad looked at Wolfram and moved to place his hand on Wolfram's shoulder. "And this is my younger-bro-"
Before Konrad could finish, Wolfram slapped Konrad's hand away. "Take that hand off of me! I told you not to touch me with those filthy human fingers!" Wolfram turned his face away from Konrad. "And I never thought of you as my big brother. The very notion makes me sick to my stomach."
Konrad simply smiled and said exasperatedly "As you wish." Turning back to Allen, Konrad said, "Allow me to introduce you to my younger brother Wolfram von Bielefeld. As I have said before, the brothers have a different father than I do. As a result, my name is Konrad Weller and I am NOT one of the ten aristocrats. There is nothing distinguishable about my father besides his swordsmanship and the fact that he was a human."
Allen looked at the two with wide eyes. He was shocked by Wolfram's rude behavior and Konrad's acceptance. "What do you think, you're doing?" Allen asked Wolfram. "Konrad's your brother isn't he? It shouldn't matter who his father is! Family is important and should be cherished!"
"And why should I listen to someone as unrefined as you?!" Wolfram shouted.
"I'M unrefined? You're the one who's acting like some spoiled brat! I might not know much about etiquette but I don't think that insulting your big brother is very seemly now is it?"
"How dare you! I refuse to think of this-this HALF BREED as even remotely related to me!"
"So what if he's a half-breed? Are you really so petty as to judge people on just their race?"
"Shut up!" Wolfram snapped, standing up and slamming his hands on the table. He turned to face Konrad. "And you! What evidence do you have that this person is the heir to the throne?! I won't be decievced by his language or by the color of his eyes and hair!"
Why didn't I meet this guy first? I wouldn't be here if I had. Allen thought, though he was still angry at Wolfram's racist attitude towards humans.
"This much is obvious: He's an nothing more than a lowly little punk-"
"Actually, you're acting a lot more like a punk than I am," Allen pointed out. Gwendle nodded, reluctantly. Wolfram chose to ignore them both for the moment. "-born to filthy, unworthy humans!"
"Wolfram!" Konrad said, angrily. "Mind your tongue!"
"No! I won't!" Wolfram continued. "I bet his mom is just a cheap hussy, some street crawler who came from dubious pedigree!"
"Wolfram, you have gone too far," Gwendle interjected. "Calm do-"
"And don't get me started on his father!" Wolfram continued on. "I bet he was nothing more than a good for nothing low life who begs for scraps off the streets while cleaning up people's s**t as a living because he's too STUPID to get any other job or to even realize that no one's even paying him to do that!"
Allen couldn't take it anymore. If he stayed around these people anymore, he was going to punch someone, and something gave him a feeling that would be a very, VERY bad thing to do. (3) So he did the safest thing he could: he stood up from his chair. "Thanks for the meal," he said through gritted teeth, before turning on his heel and walking out of the dining room.
"Your Majesty! Please wait!" Konrad called out, but Allen was already out of the room. Doria and Lazania looke at each other worriedly.
"Wolfram, what's wrong with you?" Gwendle asked, disapprovingly. "That is no way a noble of your pedigree should act."
"You should also know that its the spirit that matters, not your race!" Konrad added. "But if you're so particular about linage, King Yuuri's father was a Mazoku chosen by the demon king of the Earth."
"I don't care!" Wolfram shouted. "Why is THAT GUY the next king?! Why wasn't Gwendle chosen?!"
"Because that is the will of the Great One," A new voice interjected. "And I'm quite sure you know what happened to the last one who denied his word and law."
Allen storms his way through the castle, not paying attention where he was going, angry that Wolfram insulted his father.
Mana...
Mana! Stop it! Don't kill Mana! Run! Run, father!
Were you lying to me?
Allen... I love you. Destroy me. Destroy me, Allen.
Did you really care for-
He was about to turn the corner, when he bumped into someone. "Ack!" Allen said as he was knocked to the floor.
"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" A feminine voice said, rapidly. "Are you alright?!" Allen looked up to see a maid
"Are you by any chance a new noble?" she asked, eyeing his strange clothing.
"Ur, yeah, something like that," He said. At least she doesn't think I'm a thing... I hope. "I got into an argument with one of the other nobles in the castle so I kinda stormed out and now I'm lost." At that moment Allen's stomach chose to growl, causing Allen's cheeks to color a bit in embarrassment
"Is that so? You are hungry, my lord?" She asked, giggling.
"A bit," Allen admitted.
"Is it alright if I take you to the kitchens, my lord? I'm afraid you can't go into the dining room, since we're having a brunch in the new Demon king's honor!" Sangria squealed.
"I.. see," Allen said slowly. "I wouldn't mind eating in the kitchens. It would be rude to interrupt THE demon king's brunch after all..."
"Right you are! By the way, my name is Sangria, one of the maids in the castle," She said cheerfully. "May I know your name, my lord?"
"My name's Allen Walker," he said, happy he didn't have Konrad over his shoulder telling him that his name was Yuuri not Allen. "And you don't have to call me 'lord.' Just call me Allen."
"Here's all the leftovers from today's brunch!" Sangria said, placing the last few dishes on the table. "I'm sorry if this isn't enough, but we're running low of supplies and our next shipment won't be until tommorow morning! And then there's dinner for all the inhabitants in the castle we have to think about!
"No, no, it's alright! This'll do-" I hope, but I don't think it will "-for now," Allen added the last part to himself, his mouth watering and eyes sparkling at the sight of all the good food. "Thank you very, very much!"
"Oh, I almost forgot!" She said, hurrying to a basket underneath the window. She brought it over to the table. "These are the left over honey buns."
Allen's mouth watering even MORE at the rich aroma comming from the buns. "Can I try one?"
"Sure!" She said. As she watched Allen dig in, Sanria took a seat at the table as well. She propped her face up with the palms of her hand, her elbows on the table. "I made them especially for the new demon king!" She sighed. "I hope he enjoys them! I poured my heart and soul into it so that he would feel more at home here!"
"I'm sure he ate every single last crumb of them," Allen said, as he licked the crumbs from his finger tips. He felt a bit more warm at hearing that someone here was trying their best to make him feel welcome.
Konrad and Gunter also tried, A small voice in his head told him.
But they were too overbearing and controlling, Allen countered back ruthlessly.
NOTES:
(1) We will prosper for eternity with the power, wisdom and bravery that defeated the originators! This is your country, the kingdom of glory! Praise be to the Great One, the first demon king and his people.
(2) DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT WAS FOR ME TO FIND EXACTLY HOW THIS GUY'S NAME WAS SPELLED?! I'LL TELL YOU: IT TOOK ME 20 MINUTES. IT SHOULDN'T HAVE TAKEN 20 MINUTES TRYING TO FIND HOW TO SPELL HIS GOD DAMN NAME!
(3) They're all nobles, and pretty powerful ones too if they lived in the actual castle (Allen assumed that. He doesn't know for sure)
Omake: Beautiful people in this world #1
"Hey, Conrad?" Allen asked.
"What is it your majesty?" Conrad asked.
"Why is it that every person I met in this castle honest-to-god beautiful?" Allen asked. "Is it because you got rid of all the ugly ones or are you hiding them for me?"
"What? Oh, no, your majesty," Conrad laughed. "Mazoku in the other world are much older than they appear. It is said that are 5 times the age they look
"So it's in the genes," Allen surmised.
"Yes, your majesty. It's all in the genes."
YES! I FINISHED! :D
Sorry it couldn't be longer but NOW I'M FINALLY FREEEEEEEE! XDDDDDDDDD
DEER HUNTER 2014 HERE I COME!
