Chapter Text
Aurora Como Lis Goodereste was the first and only princess of the Unified Human Nation of Goodereste.
Wearing such a heavy title would have made Como worried about her future prospects and the responsibilities thereof, but thankfully she had a capable younger brother, the first and only prince of the Unified Human Nation of Goodereste, and thus becoming a reigning queen wasn’t anywhere on the list.
Engagement and eventual marriage, on the other hand, were at the top of said list, despite the lack of a suitable fiancé. Although noble sons treated her with respect and reverence, none of them was eager to court the spirited young lady of the royal family. It’s not that Como herself was shunning away from them – on the contrary, she got along well with boys, especially the cadets of the Knights Order, to the point where she might as well been one of them. But rather than sweets and flowers, she was gifted supplements and magic trinkets, and instead of walks in the royal park she was invited to weapon shops.
Perhaps Como ought to have been concerned about her image as a princess, had she not been ecstatic about going to the Sky Temple at the Border Mountains to train: at sixteen years, the princess was more interested in fighting stances and advanced polearms techniques than anything else.
Succeeding on the position of the master of the Sky Temple was also on the list, and the prospect seemed far more attractive than any noble son in the kingdom.
***
Sky Temple at Border Mountains made no distinction between titles and ranked trainees by talent instead. Since Como already had high aptitude, she quickly became one of the best disciples. Training was fun, even the boring parts like meditation, and she was even able to understand most of the vague answers the temple mentors gave to her questions about sutras she’s been transcribing.
A few weeks turned into months, and in a little over a year Como was among the candidates who studied under the Sky Temple master himself to take over his position in the future.
Nothing was set in stone yet, and Como was competing against disciples who have been training at the temple for much longer. But she was already on par with them when it came to martial prowess and strength of spirit, and she could even recite more sutras and stay under the waterfall the longest. She was assisting other mentors with the lessons and gave helpful pointers to (human) junior disciples. Como was praised as an excellent student, so she considered her candidacy to be quite solid.
However, master of the Sky Temple didn’t choose her yet. He didn’t choose any of the candidates, in fact, not even someone from her seniors. All of them were exemplary disciples of the Border Mountains, all of them knew the rules and regulations of the Sky Temple by heart and would have been appointed as mentors any time of the day, but apparently each and every one of them were still lacking something. And it was exactly that mysterious trait that the master of the Sky Temple wanted his future successor to have. Still, Como was optimistic. She was already an equal to her seniors in every other aspect, so all of them were also equal when it came to figuring out what that mysterious quality was.
Assuming there was something like that at all, and the temple master wasn’t putting them through some secret test of patience.
***
On paper, Border Mountains were a neutral zone, and the Sky Temple welcomed humans and demons alike to train side by side, making no distinction based on race.
In reality humans and demons naturally split into two different camps and at best simply ignored the opposing side. Insults and pranks were an everyday occurrence, clashes happened once or twice every week, and mentors stepped in only to break up most serious of fights. Demons kept to themselves, and although there was a couple of them among the candidates for the temple master position, they stayed only to spite human disciples who tried to set them back at every turn, and weren’t considered a serious competition.
Como had mixed feeling about the ongoing feud. On one hand, the war with the demons was still ongoing, however sluggish the pace became in recent years, so it really didn’t make sense for herself and her fellow human disciples to just join hands with the demon disciples simply because they happened to be on a certain location. But on the other hand, she felt that stealing clothes of bathing demons and messing with their food, not to mention all the provocations and outright lying about their deeds, was unbecoming of her as a princess and as a person. But the demons always paid in kind, so Como’s conscience remained clean.
The temple master always shook his head when major incidents were brought up before him, and issued everyone involved lengthy hours of transcribing sutras and contemplating the wisdom therein. The general consensus among the successor candidates was that they were supposed to become so strong of spirit the demons would be too scared to ever mess with them, but Como always felt it wasn’t quite right.
But as of late the demon side was quiet, or more accurately, subdued. After a couple of newcomers arrived, the rest became more reserved all of a sudden; this barely improved the overall situation, however, since most of the demons also began to act higher and mightier than usual, as if they gained an upper hand, which in turn aggravated humans more.
One particular demon who introduced himself simply as “Night” seemed to be the reason for this change. Dark-skinned, tall and well-build, he looked almost like an ordinary middle-aged man was it not for a pair of large cow-like horns sticking out of the sides of his head. He had a stern, rigid appearance, and carried himself with a calm sort of confidence that was built upon years of experience. Como expected him to be arrogant and demanding, but the man was strangely level-headed, almost humble, and the feeling of incongruity set her on edge.
Other demons treated Night with respect that bordered on fear. It wasn’t difficult to figure out that he was one of elite demons, which made his conduct at the Sky Temple all the more perplexing. He was carefully listening to instructions, performed tasks in earnest, never argued with human mentors, and seemed to be focused on attaining some sort of knowledge rather that improving his physical skills.
***
- What are those scribbles? Are you taking this seriously?
- Apologies. I am not good with delicate work.
- This is unacceptable. Put more effort into it.
- Very well. I shall start over.
From her corner of the room, Como watched others transcribe ancient texts. Despite Night’s apparent strength, he never talked back, and the human mentors took great relish in finding fault with whatever he did, and since he was honestly bad at calligraphy this time they didn’t even have to think about an excuse to nitpick.
The other demons, however, weren’t happy about it. All of the demon disciples present were grinding their teeth in anger and barely held back; one of the demons that belonged to plant variety was even stealthily unrolling one of their lianas, to attack the mentor who criticized Night’s work no doubt.
Como was about to come forward and interfere, but Night shot the plant demon a side glare so fierce they shrank in their seat and appeared to wither slightly.
Night’s expression cleared up. He picked up a brush, unrolled an empty scroll, and tried to copy the text again.
Well. Como had already moved from her spot, so she could as well make rounds and see how the rest was doing.
Everyone was doing middling well, for the most part; Como couldn’t help but scowl once she got to Night’s seat. The ancient texts used archaic language, and a lot of people copied them like drawings and read translated versions later. The way Night wrote looked not so much as someone doing a bad copy, but as someone trying to squeeze characters onto a spot that was much too small for them.
Como observed for a while, and then tapped her stick on his shoulder.
- You’re too tense.
Night gave her a thoughtful pause.
- That so?
- It is. You know well enough to use your whole arm, but it’s too tense.
- Thank you for telling me.
- And don’t just stare at your brush. Try to picture the characters on paper first, and look at where the strokes are supposed to go.
- Thank you. I will try that.
With her head held high, Como went back to her spot, ignoring the seething glares of other demons. Jing, a fellow observer, gave her a look between confusion and disapproval.
- You shouldn’t have bothered, - he said quietly.
- I’m doing my job as the top disciple of the Sky Temple, - Como answered in a haughty tone, - It would be a disgrace if I couldn’t help the trainees improve, wouldn’t you say?
Her fellow observer shook their head, but didn’t say anything else.
***
Being a top disciple and a successor candidate, Como assisted mentors with a lot of tasks and lessons, so she had many opportunities to watch Night. She pointed out his mistakes, told him to fix his stance, hit him with a stick when his focus drifted off during meditation and picked at all manner of things; she was only performing her duties as a top disciple and was trying to guide her junior, even if he was a demon much older than herself.
And Night listened attentively, thanked her, and went on to fix whatever she pointed out. Como has dealt with a good number of demons already, but it was her first time dealing with a demon so compliant. Poking someone so powerful and not getting any resistance in response would have made her lose fear and become more aggressive, but Como tried her best to keep her cool. For one thing, she didn’t want to test her limits with this particular demon, and for another, she really didn’t want to deal with the backlash from other demons if she went too far. Demons were notorious about holding grudges, and even if Night left without doing anything himself, the other seemed to hold him in high enough regard to take revenge on his behalf.
But for the time being, Sky Temple was almost peaceful. Night was doing a great job of reining the demons in, while Como and other top disciples were doing their best making sure the humans didn’t push their luck. The temple master simply watched over them and didn’t interfere.
The temple master also seemed to respect Night to a degree, and allowed him to freely attend any lesson he wanted. Nobody was given any explanation, of course, and simply had to deal with Night’s presence.
Como was great at ignoring distractions like the onlookers who had no business of watching the sparring session between the successor candidates. Her fellow disciples were more unnerved by Night’s observant stare, but it was thanks to Como’s own efforts when took everyone down and stood victorious.
- You have improved splendidly in the short time you’ve spent here, - the temple master noted.
The praise was rare and, as Como thought, well-earned, but bitterness pricked her nonetheless. She really did make a lot of progress, didn’t she? She was good at martial arts, she was good at studies, she didn’t lose to the demons and other human disciples looked up to her. As a candidate, she was good in every way, but apparently she was still missing something, and that irritated her.
- Say, lord Night, wouldn’t you like to spar with her as well?
Silence fell, clear and voluminous like a toll of a gong. Night looked even more shocked that Como.
- I… don’t think it’s safe, - he said tentatively.
- Nonsense, - the temple master dismissed, - You should be experienced enough, and it would give the girl a good perspective.
- I suppose it would, but still…
Of course, Como knew that Night was strong; he was currently the strongest person in the Sky Temple, and also quite likely one of the strongest demons in the world. She should have been feeling glad he was trying to decline the fight out of consideration for a human like her, and yet…
And yet, she felt annoyed. Whatever his actual position in the demon realm was, it was hard to accurately measure the danger presented by a man who submitted to nitpicking without a word of complaint.
- It’s only a sparring match, - Como said arrogantly, - Or do you perhaps have the kind of strength where one hit would blow half of my body off?
- Ah, no, nothing of the sort, - Night assured, - I have most of my powers sealed properly.
- So it’s fine then, - Como picked up a couple of training staffs, - Surely you can manage waving a stick?
He caught the staff she threw, gave it some thought, and nodded solemnly.
- If lady Como wishes.
The temple master told them to begin. Como didn’t make a mistake of rushing in, and went for a short series of basic blows to probe him. Night was clearly not proficient with a staff – or any weapon at all, probably – so he reacted in the most predictable ways and only blocked. Como went on to increase the pace, intent on making full use of her size and agility, and began to circle around him. Night turned around, following her movements and keeping careful watch; he seemed to anticipate her blows by instinct of someone used to combat, but if it wasn’t for his raw strength, she could have overpowered him. Como could already see the holes in his defense, and if she moved this or that way, she would have hit him directly and it would have been her technical win.
She adjusted her grip on the staff, stepped to the side, planted her feet firmly and thrust; the man’s eyes widened when he realized he wasn’t fast enough to block it.
Como’s staff connected with Night’s unprotected shoulder.
And burst into bits and pieces.
Clamor overtook the training grounds: the demons were cheering, the humans were dismayed and confused. Como stared at her red, tingling, empty hands and was trying to process what just had happened.
- Apologies, lady Como, - Night’s worried voice cut through the noise, - I ought to have suppressed my mana more. Are you unhurt?
A large, dark-skinned hand grabbed hers and spread it open for a better look. With a gasp, Como realized that Night came up to her and was now trying to ascertain the damage.
- S-such insolence! - she cried out, tearing her hand away.
She stuttered.
In her confusion, Como not only stuttered, but also said something a princess would. Of course, she was a princess by birth, but it was entirely unreasonable to act like a scorned noble lady at some high society gathering.
Night, already a few steps back, regarded her with his usual seriousness.
- I’m sorry. I meant no offense.
Anger burned Como’s face.
She knew he was stronger. She knew he was older and more experienced in a fight. She knew that he handled their sparring match like a play fight with a child.
And yet she still felt like the world’s dumbest fool for thinking she ever had a chance to fight this demon on equal footing.
No one would have been surprised if a young lady doubled down from shame until the commotion died down. No one would have been surprised if a young lady ran away in mortification and holed up in one of the many hidden nooks of the Border Mountains. No one would have been surprised if a young, noble lady gave up on her training and left the Sky Temple altogether.
But currently Como wasn’t a princess or a noble lady. She was the top disciple of the Sky Temple, and a successor candidate to boot. The temple master wanted to teach her something, and Como had a pretty good idea what it was.
She took a breath to collect herself, straightened up and bowed to Night politely:
- Thank you. This was very insightful. I see that I have much to learn.
- Lady Como’s aptitude is outstanding, - Night reassured, - You were able to touch me, after all.
Como clenched her teeth, trying her damnest not to take that as a mockery.
- That’s our lord! - one of the demon onlookers shouted, - He can bring all of you humans down!
- Who said that?!
Night’s voice boomed as his fierce look fell upon the demons. After a brief struggle, the unlucky demon was pushed to the front of the group.
- The Sky Temple teaches restraint and composure first and foremost! - Night bellowed, - Have your training been for naught?!
Como used the shift of attention to excuse herself and left the scene.
***
Como had a lot of talent when it came to martial arts, but she wasn’t a genius. She lost a good deal of matches since she first came to the Sky Temple, and she knew that a defeat was a chance to improve.
She didn’t expect to fight someone whose natural mana levels vaporized wood, and judging by Night’s reaction, he also didn’t expect that to happen. So the sparring match wasn’t exactly unfair, it’s just that the participants didn’t realize that their levels were uneven. It was just a genuine oversight. No one was at fault – except maybe the temple master, but he ought to have known about Night’s strength and defense, so if he approved the fight he knew that Como wasn’t in any danger.
So Como wasn’t irritated because she lost a match, and not because she was put up against a demon several levels above her. It was just that she sort of expected other demons to mock her, the top disciple of the Sky Temple, for losing to their oh-so-important lord Night – but they weren’t saying a word about it. Not in Como’s presence, at least. Night himself also didn’t say a word about it, and his interactions with her continued as if nothing happened. As if it was just a normal occurrence during a usual training course. Como would have expected that from her mentors, used to be treated like that by her mentors when she started training, in fact; but the other party was a high-ranking demon and she really couldn’t understand why he didn’t look down on her.
Of course, a demon of Night’s level really might have seen that as nothing but a trivial event, since she was just another human and her actions wouldn’t have an impact on him. But Como didn’t feel that was the case. If Night wasn’t a demon, she could have said that he… was of good opinion about her? And regarded her not as someone who merely wasn’t a threat, but… someone he didn’t want to fight in the first place? But wouldn’t it be strange for an old, powerful demon like him to think that? She was a human, and however stagnant, the war was still ongoing, so they were natural enemies, right?
It was confusing and disconcerting, but it wasn’t like she could ask the person in question.
Como sighed and sunk deeper into the pool at the open baths.
- What’s wrong? - her fellow disciple Maylin asked, - Still sulking about that match you lost?
- No. And I wasn’t sulking.
- Oh? - June, an older disciple, swam closer with a grin on her face, - But you were glaring at Night these few days an awful lot!
- I wasn’t glaring! - Como said in annoyance, - I’m just watching over trainees to see when they need help!
- But for some reason you’re paying extra attention to one of them, though?
- Because he needs someone to point out his mistakes the most! And none of you do that!
Other girls looked in their direction while Maylin and June patted Como’s head in mock sympathy.
- Just look at her, June, - Maylin faked a sigh, - Sister Como is in denial.
- Can’t really blame her, - June mimicked the saddened tone, - Maiden’s heart is a delicate thing.
- It is, it is. Even if we’re talking about Como.
- Well, the other party is an adult man.
- Not to mention a demon.
- As expected of sister Como. Always aims high.
Como groaned:
- Maybe if you did your job properly and assisted the mentors too…
A faint sound caught her attention. Como hissed at her giggling friends to keep quiet and strained her ears. All girls noiselessly sank into the water up to their chins and listened closely.
- Sounds like snickering, - Maylin whispered.
- Voices are kinda gruff. Males? - June added.
- Might be women, - Como said, - But I sensed demonic energy.
Sullenness fell over them. To avoid conflicts, the Sky Temple had four public baths in total: two for the human and the demon sides each, both divided by gender. Naturally, Como and her fellow disciples were at women’s bath on the human side, so a demon, much less a male demon, really had no business being there.
Unless, of course, they were up to no good.
Girls huddled closer and watched their surroundings with intense attention. It was hard to tell whether the quiet rustling was only the wind blowing through bamboo leaves, or someone rummaging through their clothes in the changing room. But no one tried to approach the bath itself, and soon Como couldn’t feel even a hint of demonic presence. They waited for a while longer, exchanging uncertain glances.
With a sigh, Como got up.
- I’ll go check.
Just as she expected, everyone’s clothes were missing from the changing room. Robes in the locker were also missing, and all towels were missing too. Even spare clothes in the secret stash were gone.
- How’s the situation? - June asked, peeking into the room.
- The usual, - Como said, - Did the staff installed a recording crystal?
- As far as I know, no, - she heaved a sigh, - It’s a pity we don’t know the culprit.
- They’ll come to gloat. We’ll beat them up then.
Como opened the second secret stash. Unfortunately, it had only towels, but that was better than nothing. She fashioned a pair of shorts and a wrap-around top out of two of those, then cloaked herself with another towel for good measure. She turned around, then went through a few fighting stances to figure out if the knots were secure.
- Everything is covered, - Maylin gave her double thumbs up, - You’re good to go.
- Please come back soon, - June sniffled and wiped off a fake tear, - Only you can protect our chastity now.
- Both of you are going to owe me, - Como grumbled as she left.
The trip between the dorms and the baths wasn’t long, but she could still run into other people. Not to mention that following the usual road would take longer than cutting through the bamboo grove. Como wrapped her towel cloak around herself tighter, jumped over the fence, and ran at a measured pace, vaulting over rare obstacles like boulders and stray logs.
There was a small drop up ahead, with a narrow forest trail running along the sheer wall of a hill. Usually it was best to do a forward roll after jumping down to minimize the impact, but Como didn’t care for getting dirty after a bath.
She jumped off the edge of the drop and condensed her spiritual energy while still in the air. It countered the impact from the landing; dust and leaves twirled around her, and the billowing of her clothes would’ve looked dramatic if she wasn’t dressed in towels. She stood up and brushed a dry leaf off her hair.
- Lady Como?
It wasn’t that rare to encounter someone in the bamboo grove: some people liked to take walks before bed, some liked to meditate alone, some were just lost. But that would have been human trainees, as demons didn’t usually go to this side of the mountain, unless they were up to no good.
Como stared at Night morosely. By then the demon had already took in her appearance, closed his eyes shut and even covered them with a hand that wasn’t occupied with a bundle of some sort.
- Evening, lady Como, - he said conversationally, - Are you out on a stroll?
- But of course, - she replied in an icy tone, - Such lovely weather tonight, would be a shame to let it go to waste.
- I see.
It’s wasn’t clear whether he took her words at face value. Knowing his usual attitude, he might as well have.
Como peered into his face. Night was a few steps away and the dusk was already setting in, but the lack of fluster was clearly visible, so the sight of a half-dressed girl didn’t surprise him. But his clothes weren’t fit for a stealth run in the woods, and the bundle in his arms looked too small for a stack of clothes of half a dozen of girls.
- What about you? - Como ventured, - Are you out on a walk too?
- No. I heard there were hot springs in the vicinity, but I seem to have lost my way.
Como sighed. Coming from him, this sounded plausible.
- It’s on the demon side of the mountain. Go back and ask for better directions.
- Is that so. Thank you.
- Until next time, then.
She adjusted her clothes and turned in the direction of the dorms.
- Lady Como, - Night’s voice stopped her before she took a step, - Do you need assistance?
- Hah? - she balked at him, - What kind of assistance would that be in my current state?
- Apologies, - he had enough conscience to appear a little ashamed, - I meant nothing untoward.
- Then it’s none of your concern, is it?
Without waiting for another word, she took of and sprinted towards the dorms to put on proper clothes and brings spares for the rest of the girls.
By the time Como brought clothes and the girls got back to their dorms, it was the middle of the night. Everyone groaned and complained about the late hour and how early they had to get up, and wanted nothing more than to crawl under a blanket and get whatever sleep they could. Como was of the same mind, but the dorm head called her to meet a visitor who apparently couldn’t wait until morning.
The visitor turned out to be a young female demon of the cat variety. Her tail and ears were constantly twitching, and it was apparent she didn’t want to be there at all.
Como’s already foul mood soured.
The cat demon noticed her and held out a big basket with a closed lid:
- I ha-have to deliver these! - she stammered nervously, - Please confirm this is all of the stolen items!
Como’s foul mood soured further.
- Oh, how nice of you to come all this way, - she grumbled and pointed into a corner, - Put that here and someone will sort it out in the morning.
Wind carried a muffled boom of a distant explosion. Como glanced through the window without much interest; the sky over the demon side was lit up with a faint glow, from some kind of demonic festivity no doubt. An event like that wasn’t unheard of at the Sky Temple.
Someone pulled at her sleeve, and to Como’s surprise it was the cat demon, who looked back at her with a frantic expression on her deathly pale face:
- Please confirm this is all of the stolen items!!!
Como was so stunned by the urgency of her voice that she wordlessly opened the basket, and made sure every piece of clothes that was stolen from the baths that day was indeed accounted for.
***
The demons were haggard the next morning, not as someone who had too much drinks and too little sleep, but rather as someone who went through whatever passed for actual hell in their eyes. Nobody from the human side knew what went down at the demon’s side that night, but the most accepted rumor was that their late party got out of hand and ended up in an all-out brawl. But it was well-contained and didn’t spill onto the human side, so aside from the disturbance it caused to their sleep the humans didn’t care.
Actual live-in disciples of the temple had to take turns doing chores. Como was supposed to work the morning shift at the kitchen, but before that she was called to the temple master’s place for a sudden meeting. All of the successor candidates were there, sitting on the sidelines in quiet confusion, while the temple master was faced with Night, and behind Night were three other demons who looked like they were beat up within an inch of their demon lives.
Once everyone assembled, the temple master gave a pointed look to his students, and to the demons before him – a benevolent nod.
Night, who was already on his knees like the demons behind him, put both hands on the floor in front of him:
- I sincerely apologize for the disgraceful behavior of my people!
And he bowed deeply.
His head didn’t touch the ground, but for someone of his rank it might as well have. The demons behind him looked like they were about to faint because of that.
Disciples exchanged furtive glanced to see if anyone understood what was going on, but didn’t dare to so much as whisper. Night kept his head low, while the temple master kept quiet and only stroked his long beard in relaxed contemplation.
- M-my lord, for you to bow to a human… - one of the demons tried.
- Silence! Do you intend to shame me any further?!
Night’s face switched to a grimace of barely contained fury as he bellowed at his fellow demons.
- We’re sorry, my lord!..
- It’s not me you owe an apology to!
Scared stiff, the demons kowtowed to the temple master and the disciples present in a disorderly fashion. It was unclear if they knew what to actually apologize for, but Night’s oppressive aura scared them stiff and they apologized profusely anyway.
Night sat back up with a fierce look on his face.
- Allow me to take these fools to the demon kingdom for proper punishment.
- Hmmm… usually the trainees sort these matters out among themselves, - the temple master replied, in no way perturbed, - But very well, you may deal with them however you see fit.
Night bowed respectfully, then got up and left; he didn’t spare them another glance, but the demons obediently hurried after him nonetheless.
The temple master nodded to his disciples, and they sat into rows before him.
- I called you because I thought you might learn something useful, - he said, - What are your thoughts after witnessing that? Let’s start with Jing.
- W-well… I think the temple master is amazing for inspiring so much fear and respect even the demons bow to him.
- Hmmm… Very well. Maylin?
- Errr… I was surprised that a demon would know how to apologize? And um, I think we as the disciples of the Sky Temple shouldn’t fall behind.
- Good. Como?
- I… - there wasn’t nearly enough time to collect her thoughts, but she tried, - I’m the same as Maylin. I think we should follow their example and know when to admit our wrongs…
- Anything else?
There was something else, but Como wasn’t sure how to accurately put that into words, and certainly not when the keen stare of the temple master and the curious glances of her fellow disciples were on her.
- Please give me more time to think about it.
- Very well. Lotus?
The assembly went on. Como listened to the opinions of others and tried her best not to look away from what she thought herself.
Morning shift at the kitchen was in full swing by the time Como got there, so she had to figure out where an extra pair of hands was needed the most. Had she been there from the start, she and the rest of the disciples on kitchen duty would have quickly divided the tasks and got to it, stopping only after everything was finished.
Perhaps that was the reason why she noticed that a snickering couple of guys who stirred a pot of stew were adding something that didn’t look like an ingredient.
- You two, what are you doing?
One of the guys looked up and showed her a bottle with a nasty grin on his face.
- Nothing. Just a little extra kick for the demon’s portion.
With a huff, she grabbed the bottle to examine it.
- Where did you get it?
- At the medicine pavilion, of course.
- And the healers just gave the whole bottle to you?
The guys avoided her glare, but they didn’t look guilty in the least.
- Well… let’s say we borrowed it…
It was a bottle of stomach medicine. That seemed harmless enough, but it was concentrated medicine meant for humans, and if that much was mixed with a stew, the demons would have got a case of indigestion at best.
Not to mention that the healers would kick up a storm if they knew how their medicine was wasted.
- Heeey, Como, - the disciple in charge of the shift called out, - Get to work already.
- We’re done with the stew, - one of the guys said apologetically, - But you can help serve it later.
Food often got messed up like that. The humans were also used to finding all sorts of stuff in their bowls when the demon disciples were on kitchen duty. Two sides would fight because of that, then one of the mentors would come yelling, the perpetrators would serve out some sort of punishment, and the food would be normal for a while. Everyone was used to it, and everyone was used to sorting these things out among themselves. This was just another prank, something on the level of stealing clothes from the changing room.
The scowl of disapproval Como saw on Night’s face in the dusk of the bamboo grove came to her mind.
- Serve this stew and I will beat both of you to a pulp, - she grumbled.
- Er, what?
- You heard me.
There weren’t many ingredients left, but Como collected whatever she could find, got herself a clean pot and began to peel the potatoes with anger-induced zeal.
Other disciples whispered among themselves for a while and ushered forward a representative.
- Sister Como? - the girl asked kindly, - What are you doing?
- Stew, hopefully.
- We have already made enough, though?
- No, - Como didn’t look up from cutting vegetables, - We either have enough for only half the people or for half a portion per person.
- There’s the second pot right there.
- It’s inedible waste and you all know it, So I’m making proper stew, - she glanced at the pair of guys she talked to, - The healers will hear about the bottle you’ve “borrowed”, by the way.
- What’s up with you? - one of the guys shouted, - Do you wanna suck up to the demons or something?!
An edge of a pot lid Como threw caught him across the face. Knife in hand, she got up from the stool and strode up to the pair; they backed into the wall fast, and whimpered when she planted her foot into the wall with impact, narrowly missing the bleeding face of one and the shaking leg of another.
- It just so happened that a demon helped me, - Como said darkly, - You might be lowly ruffians without a shred of honor, but I do have pride, and I really don’t like owing any favors.
Neither of the guys looked like they wanted to argue, and she turned around to get back to work. Others watched her in stunned, apprehensive silence.
- You heard my reason, - Como shrugged and sat down, - I don’t care what you do, but stay out of my way or I will strike you down.
She was late with the stew and the demons complained about the taste a great deal, but she felt too tired to take them on.
***
Como barely got through that day without lashing out at anyone, although at times she was very close. Every little thing got on her nerves, and she hated her sudden alertness. Something was changing with the way she thought, even, and that irritated her the most.
She was done with her chores, finished her training sessions, failed her evening meditation class, didn’t punch anyone who wanted to know about her morning shift in the kitchen, and finally escaped to a remote corner of the mountain to clear her head. The spot was a bit hard to reach and didn’t have much of a view, so it was usually empty, which was exactly why Como liked it.
The spot was supposed to be empty. But when Como got there, she saw the back of a certain demon with an impressive pair of black cow-like horns.
Night turned around and saw the peevish expression on her face.
- Lady Como, - he bowed his head respectfully as a way of greeting, - I didn’t expect to see anyone here.
- Because I’m usually the only one who comes here, - she said sulkily.
- I see, - he moved to get up, - I will take my leave, then.
His consideration, too, grated on her nerves, that day most of all.
- It’s fine, - she grumbled, - This isn’t my mountain, so I can’t tell you where to go. Unless, of course, you were doing some evil demonic stuff that no human should ever lay their eyes upon.
To her surprise, that got a small laugh out of him.
- No, nothing of the sort, lady Como.
She groaned.
- And would you stop calling me a lady? The Sky Temple doesn’t look at titles!
- But are you not of noble birth? Or did you disown your family?
- Of course not!
- Then “lady Como” is an apt way to address you.
Como clenched her fists. She really wanted to stomp her feet, too, and yell for a good while longer, but that would’ve been a childish tantrum she had long since outgrew. And she knew that a tantrum was just a way to escape the situation, and that as a top disciple and a princess she couldn’t allow herself to escape from this.
- Well, - looking away, she huffed a sigh and crossed her arms on her chest, - Should I call you “your majesty” in that case?
He paused, then shook his head slowly.
- That would be unnecessary. I go by “Night” while I’m here.
- Lord Night, then.
- Yes, that would suffice.
She didn’t know what else to say, so she kept silent.
Night – or rather, Midnight, the reigning demon king – gave her another respectful bow and turned back around.
Como racked her brains every way she could think of, then finally stomped to the edge of the cliff and sat down a few steps away from Midnight, facing the same direction as him. She pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapped both arms around her legs, tucked her head into her shoulders and bored her seething glare into the horizon.
This was her favorite spot. She liked having some alone time up there. She would have been only a bit irritated if she had to share it with somebody, but she wouldn’t think twice about it. What she really had to think about twice or a dozen more times was sharing that place with a real demon king.
But that’s exactly what was so irritating: she didn’t feel any danger. And even more irritating was the fact that Midnight himself chose not to pose any danger to anyone at the Sky Temple.
What was a princess supposed to do when an enemy king carried himself with humility and treated her with courtesy at every turn?
- Thank you.
- Pardon?
- Thank you, lord Night, - Como repeated louder, holding her head up and enunciating every syllable in a manner of a student who was annoyed with a lesson, - You helped return our clothes. And you even punished the thieves. So, thank you.
- I only did what had to be done. Their actions were hardly appropriate.
- Aren’t demons supposed to, you know, do bad things?
She chanced a side glance at him. Midnight’s eyes were closed, and his face got darker and more severe.
- Not something so petty, - he said after a pause, - And not at the expense of the weak.
Como’s irritation flared up. She uncurled from her position and turned to face him.
- W-well, it’s not like us humans are just bearing with it! - she said hastily, - We’ve been fighting you demons for centuries already, and it’s the same at the Sky Temple too! I myself have…
She bit her tongue, realizing that proudly recounting the many skirmishes with the demon disciples wasn’t something she should do in the presence of the demon king.
Midnight turned his head and regarded her with an even, serious look.
- What you humans have done is something you ought to be responsible for yourself, - he said in a solemn tone, - Like us demons shall be responsible for what we have done.
His gaze was neither judgmental nor disdainful, but shame still flushed over Como.
She deflated and shrank back. A human like her didn’t have any experience to go up against an opponent like him, be it an actual fight or a discussion. A young human like her really didn’t have the capacity to grasp why would an old, powerful ruler like him talk about matters like these.
- Why did you really come to the Sky Temple, lord Night? - she asked meekly.
She wasn’t expecting an answer, but Como felt like she had to get the question out.
Yet he answered.
- For a change of perspective. I wanted to see what a neutral territory where humans and demons coexisted was like.
- And you were disappointed.
- Truth be told, I held no high hopes in the first place. Still, I gained considerable insight, so the trip was worthwhile.
Como’s fists were clenched on her knees. She was dismayed and mortified: all of her knowledge about the ongoing war between the humans and the demons felt like nothing more than a house of cards, even though she got to experience a watered-down version of said war herself.
- Do you really think the war can be resolved that easily? - she asked in a small, forlorn voice, - Just by acting nice?
- It won’t be. It will take much more time and effort from a much bigger number of people, from both sides of the conflict, before our nations can truly reconcile. But I want my son to reign in peace, and for that to happen I have to take appropriate measures. I suppose that “acting nice” is as good start as any.
Midnight’s expression was clear and open now, and alit with a flicker of determination as he gazed at the distant horizon. Como couldn’t help but stare in awe, because not only she was getting a glimpse of something much bigger than herself, she felt like she was invited to partake in it.
His eyes fell upon her, and Como looked down in a hurry.
- So, lord Night has a son! - she said with a nervous strain in her voice.
It was a stupid thing to comment upon, especially after hearing out about his lofty goals. But anything she could have said about those would have been no more intelligent.
- I do. Would you like to see?
Como blinked. It took her a second to comprehend what she’d heard.
She looked up at Midnight, who had a small open book in his outstretched hand. Como saw him with it when she got up there, and she assumed it was a notebook of sorts; but as she got a bit closer for a better look, she saw it was in fact a compact photo album.
Despite her fighting spirit and unladylike conduct, Como liked children. She was looking forward to playing the role of big sister for her juniors, actually, but as it turned out there wasn’t many disciples that much younger than herself. There was nothing she could do about it, so she didn’t dwell on the matter, but she would have liked to have more kids around nonetheless.
And now she saw a small boy on the photo. The boy clearly took after Midnight, with the same dark skin, amber eyes and a pair of black horns, and the boy had the most adorable pout as he looked up from a sheet of half-finished math drills.
- How cute, - Como murmured in a daze.
- This is my son Twilight, - Midnight said softly, - He is currently doing his best with studies.
- At such young age! How old is he?
- He will be thirty years old this year.
The numbers fell before her mind’s eye, heavy and imposing like slabs of granite.
- He is still quite young for a future demon king, - Midnight said to lessen the shock.
- Right… that would be quite young for a demon...
History books were inconsistent when it came to the age of Midnight himself, but he was thought to be an adult around the time of the big war four hundred years ago.
- A-are these your sons as well?
There were two other boys on the photos on the next page, neither of whom looked much like Midnight. One of them also had horns, but of a different shape, and his hair was blond; the second boy had blue skin and fins in place of ears, like merfolk did.
- I suppose they are, - Midnight mused, - These brothers had no one to take care of them, so I’m looking after them both for the time being. They are great friends with Twilight, and get into all sorts of mischief.
Como looked at the photo where all three were sitting on the floor in a line, and someone wearing what looked like clerical robes was standing before them; judging by the sulking, tearful faces of the kids and the gestures of the adult (the person was out of frame from shoulders up) the photo was taken in the middle of a stern lecture.
- What did they do?
- Scratched up the statue of their grandfather to mark their heights, - Midnight shook his head and sighed, - Little rascals.
He didn’t look displeased in the slightest when he said that.
Midnight’s expression was soft and unguarded when he talked about his children and the circumstances surrounding each photo. Como couldn’t help but fawn over the adorable faces, and felt lighter by the minute.
And just as Midnight was telling her, in all seriousness, how he couldn’t help squeezing his son’s cheeks when he didn’t want to eat his vegetables, Como couldn’t contain herself any longer and burst into a fit of giggles.
- Oh, what the hell, - she breathed out, - The scary demon king is actually a doting parent!
She immediately pressed both hands against her mouth, but the words were already out, and they were hardly an appropriate remark.
But before she could apologize, a warm weight settled on top of her head and gave it a gentle rub. Como looked up in surprise, and realized that the man was patting her head, wearing the kindest smile she ever saw on a demon.
- It’s just as I thought, - he said warmly, - Lady Como does have a beautiful heart.
With a start, she pulled away in a flurry of fluster and confusion.
- What’s that supposed to mean? - she stammered out.
- Apologies. I meant nothing untoward, - Midnight put his hand down, still smiling, - You are a fine lady of noble character, but above all, you are kind and sincere. I hope my son will get to speak with you when you are the master of the Sky Temple.
- I’m just a candidate, you know? I might not even be chosen as the successor!.. - she stopped and eyed him with suspicion, - You… don’t have anything to do with the secret test, do you?
Midnight let out a good-natured chuckle.
- I’m not aware whether such a test exists. But someone who properly guided a demon during training, appreciated the cuteness of my sons, and could honestly laugh by my side is a person most suited for the position to watch over humans and demons as the next temple master. This is what I think.
- Something like that… isn’t a good enough reason to call someone a successor, - Como mumbled, - These are all very trivial things.
- This is reason enough, - Midnight said with calm certainty, - I believe it is trivial things like these that pave way to big changes. And if a human princess and a demon king can hold and amiable conversation, however brief it might be, then a brighter future is sure to come.
Como jumped to her feet. She felt much too confused, much too unsettled, and much too flustered, all at once. The vision she was handed so quietly was too grand for her to grasp just yet, but she didn’t hate how it made her feel, and she had no idea how to deal with that.
So she succumbed to instinct and ran, only to stop after a few strides with a gasp. She looked around, and saw Midnight looking back at her with a light, amused smile.
- Well, maybe I will be the temple master! - Como shouted in defiance.
Still smiling, he nodded.
- And when your son comes, he will have to fight me, and I won’t go easy on him!
That got her another approving nod.
- And… and I will tell him how his dad had shown me his childhood photos, and he will be very embarrassed!
She turned around and ran away in earnest, followed by the sound of Midnight’s laughter.
***
A month had passed since Midnight’s departure.
Not much changed for Como, but she herself didn’t feel quite the same. She was much more irritable for one thing, and took it out on the human and demon disciples alike when she caught them fighting among themselves. She wanted peace and quiet at the temple, and she was dead set on achieving that, even if it meant giving out tasks and getting an iron grip on the order of things.
A day came when the temple master gathered all of the successor candidates. He evaluated their progress, commented on their accomplishments, pointed out where they were lacking and how they could improve. He did that often enough, but this time everybody knew he was going to finally select one of them to train as his successor.
At last, he asked a simple question: how would each one of them conduct themselves as the next temple master.
Como didn’t listen to what others said, as she was too busy trying to compose herself. She wasn’t sure how good her answer would be, and she was a bit embarrassed to give it, but she was certain she would fight anyone who dared to laugh.
- Your turn, Como. What kind of a temple master do you want to be?
She recalled calm certainty and made it her own.
- Someone with a strong spirit and a sincere heart, - she said, looking straight ahead, - Someone who can watch over the humans and the demons, and ensure the temple is a place where they can set aside their differences and see each other as equals.
She felt incredulous, even mocking glances of others on her, but it didn’t matter, because the temple master was looking at her without scorn, and the smile hidden in his beard was that of acceptance.
- Good, - he said, and his measured tone filled the room, - You have passed.
***
Years went by and became decades. The future, whether bright or dim, was still somewhere beyond the horizon.
On paper, Border Mountains were still a neutral zone, and the Sky Temple welcomed humans and demons alike to train side by side, making no distinction based on race.
In reality humans and demons naturally split into two different camps and at best simply ignored the opposing side. Insults and pranks were an everyday occurrence, clashes happened once or twice every week, and when a serious fight happened Aurora Como Lis Goodereste, the current master of the Sky Temple, came down from her high seat, gave everyone involved a good walloping and piled up so many chores on them no one had any strength to so much as give the opposing camp a dirty look.
The war with the demons was stagnant as ever. Como thought that both nations might as well give up, scrap the whole thing and try talking about peace.
Then princess Aurora Suya Lis Goodereste got kidnapped by the demon king Twilight, and the world held it’s breath in premonition.
***
Twilight comes to see her some three and a half years after kidnapping Suya. Como recognizes the boy from the photos; he’s all grown up, but still much too young for the position of someone who is going to change the world.
- Despite being the demon king, I… I have no desire to annihilate humankind!
The young demon king is flustered and intimidated, but in his honest eyes Como sees the same hope and determination his father once shown her all those years ago.
Como lets her fighting spirit flare up. She gets up from her high seat and summons her spear.
She did promise Midnight to put his son through one hell of a test, after all.