Chapter Text
Red Son struggled on the floor trapped there by the seal placed on the floor which connected to a similar one placed on his back. Red Son fought relentlessly against the seal and its gravitational pull as his breath picked up in a panic. No matter how hard he fought he wasn’t going anywhere but this fact did not lessen his efforts. The temperature of the room suddenly dropped and he heard her cackle at his predicament which only increased his struggle.
“It’s no use.” Red Son ignored the speaker and tried to summon his flames which seemed to get weaker the longer he was stuck to the floor with the seal. In his struggle, he didn’t notice her getting closer until she tugged his face in her direction with her icy grip. That was when he noticed she was standing over him. Red Son felt himself freeze in her presence. Her eyes were a frightening icy blue and her skin was as pale as a ghost. Her hair flowed around her in a dangerous halo as white as snow. He remembered when her eyes used to shine at him with compassion but now her gaze seemed callous and cruel. He wonders why he never noticed that before.
“I wouldn’t try summoning your flames either. The more you struggle the faster I’m able to drain that little spark out of you.” She grinned wickedly at him leaving him feeling completely defenseless. He tried to tear his head from the grip of her frostbitten fingertips but it only tightened instead. Red Son remembered when her hands seemed like his only source of comfort but not it seemed like they would be his demise.
“Why are you doing this?” Red Son couldn’t help but ask as he winced. “We were friends,” he managed to gasp out.
“Friends? You must be more naive than I thought!” Her laugh brought another shiver down Red Son’s spine as the last spark of hope he had in his heart died. He felt empty. The only person he thought he could trust turned out to be the one that hated him the most. He gritted his teeth, from the cold and his growing anger, as she continued.
“We were never friends! Why would any respecting demon want to be friends with a people-pleasing weakling like you?” She finally let go of his head allowing him some release as she waltzed around the now freezing temperature room. His eyes follow her movements throughout the room. Every step she took froze the floor in her step. Using her powers she creates a throne and marvels at it before turning her attention back to Red Son.
“I always thought of you as a tool to strengthen my own powers,” she summons some ice spikes to emerge from the ground some got too close to Red Son but he could not move away from them he was too drained, “With your flames, I can be stronger than Monkey King and finally rule over this pathetic continent.” She sits on the throne seemingly satisfied with their positions. Red Son assumes that she probably always looked down on him like this. He could feel the willingness to fight, starting to leave him.
As if she knew what he was thinking she smiled more wickedly than before. “You would have been caught in the crossfire eventually. Being the nephew of the King makes you in line for the throne and I can’t have you getting in my way.”
“What about his successor?” Red Son grunted. Even though he didn’t go out much he had heard how powerful the Monkey King’s successor was. This query only seemed to make her laugh.
“You don’t have to worry about him, he’ll be taken care of soon. I have someone following in his shadow.” She smiled impishly in delight as Red Son’s anger grew. Even though he was bound to die she still wants him to suffer with unanswered questions. Red Son couldn’t believe he had trusted such a person with his life.
“How could you do this? Is being able to rule this important to you?” Red Son needed to know why she was doing this. Why had she lied to him since the second they met? Why had she made him feel alone so that only she could comfort him? Why had he been so stupid?
She sat up from her throne and began to approach him again, ignorant of the icy landscape the room had become. “Darling, it's destiny. There is nothing you can do to stop fate. Just like it was fate for you to be seen as an outcast, weak, and a monster. Like how it was fate for your parents to die.” Each word felt like a stab to his heart. He knew his parents were disappointed in him since he appeared to have no powers. He knows he was looked down on by other demons because he always tried to please the humans. He knows the humans would never like him because he was the son of the Demon Bull King and Princess Iron Fan. He knew all these things but the truth still hurt, deeply. His breath became shaky as he tried to control his breathing. It didn’t help that the freezing room was causing him to shiver.
She leaned over him and he caught her eyes. He felt his heart stop at the look in her eyes.“Aw, tough spot? I’ll let you in on a little secret maybe it’ll make you feel better.”
She leaned in close enough to whisper into his ear with a smile, “ I killed your parents. ”
She-
She-
She killed his parents
The rage that took over Red Son was overwhelming and he was engulfed with flames. “How dare you! ” The outburst forced her back as he lit up the entire room. Her eyes were full of shock. He fought fiercely against the seal entirely focused on the source of his despair. She had taken everything away from him. She had to pay! Her shock didn’t last long and she tried to control the flame with her ice. Red Son’s fire began to dim against his will. He could not let her win. He had to fight back!
With one last burst of flames Red Son could feel the seal breaking but it was already too late. He had failed. Red Son crumbled on the floor. Why was he so pathetic? If only he was stronger. Maybe he would have been respected. Maybe he could have saved his parents. Maybe he wouldn’t be on his deathbed. But it was too late to think of regrets, what was done was done, and now all he could do was die quietly. His eyelids grew tired but before he could close them for good he heard a bang from the left side of the room. Suddenly she was tackled by a blinding light with a golden aura and a glowing dark aura followed quickly behind. He turned his gaze to the entrance of the room to see other figures rush after the first ones. Good, maybe they could do what he could not.
Red Son noticed one of the figures that stayed behind rushed to him and kneeled by his side. He saw their lips move but his head was filled by an annoying buzz and he could not make out what the figure was trying to say. So instead he focused on the figure’s aura which seemed similar to the first he saw. It seemed to be smaller but it burned brighter and lighter. Red Son could not help the small smile that grew on his face because of the sight. Maybe in a different life, he and this figure could have been friends. Red Son’s eyes began to close and he didn’t try to stop them.
He simmered in his rage as he floated in a dark abyss.
If he ever got the chance Red Son promised himself he would get revenge.
He would no longer be a pathetic people-pleaser.
He would kill the Lady Bone Demon.
No.
He would do even worse.
“Is that an empty threat?”
It’s a promise, not a threat.
“That’s what I wanted to hear.”
Then all he knew was darkness.