WHEN DID I get to have a canopy? Huh? Cent tried to sit up from lying down when her head got stuck in something. "What the hell?" Her fingertips grazed the scaly feeling of her forehead. As she traced the scaly extension of her forehead, Cent could feel the form. "What the hell?" she repeated, at a loss for words in how to react.
I know I am weird on so many levels, but not this weird! I got freaking horns that can compete with a ram's! The large and obvious swirls until it elongates upward. Yep, my eighteenth freaky birthday ability is a freaking demon-ish horn!
"What the hell?" for the third time, Cent uttered those words.
"Uhm, for your information, the demon world or what the human named hell is still far away, in fact, we are still within the territory of the human realm."
Holding her horns to sit up properly as if they would fall from her head, Cent scanned her surrounding for the owner of the guttural voice. She kept on looking around but she could not see any telltale sign of anyone. "Where are you? And why am I here? Wait, did you see my horns?" And where are my shadows?
"Look down, Half–my lady."
Instinctively, her eyes met with a purple-colored goblin with red eyes. She wanted to scream and run, but flashes of memories in her dream made her stop. She was indeed familiar with the stature of the creature from her sketches. All she could do was widened her eyes in an attempt to get shocked or scared. But weirdly, she was not afraid even if her mind told her to get scared.
"What-what are you? I swear I saw your kind in my dreams." And many more creatures, but the thing that kept me awake for so many nights is the winged demon.
His red eyes held a knowing gaze that irked Cent. "I am a goblin, my lady. And for the reason why you are here, my lord will be the one to explain to you why."
Where are my shadows? I can't feel them or hear them. Is this also because of my birthday? Wait. "What time is it, Mr. Goblin? You found me in the skating rink, right?"
Cent interpreted the goblin's crooked grin as a smile. "My lady, if I may ask, why are you holding your horn? And yes, me and my master took you from the skating rink after you collapsed."
Cent bit her lip, feeling embarrassed. "Aren't they going to fall off? I mean, they feel so heavy. Where's your master, by the way? Why did he take me, Mr. Goblin? Is he a goblin like you?" Or is he another type of creature from my dream? Heck, this feels like a dream for me!
Her questions made the goblin uncomfortable for some reason so Cent shut up, afraid that the goblin's kindness would take a drastic turn. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."
Cent's answer was supposed to console the paled-looking goblin, but after she apologized, his slit-shaped eyes widened drastically. "Hey, what's wrong?" What did I do? Is he gonna eat me?
Cent crawled to the gigantic bed's edge towards the fear-stricken goblin only to trip when a weight from her back changed her center of balance. "Fuck!" Will my horn protect my head when I fall? Closing her eyes, Cent waited to tumble onto the floor. But a pair of firm cold large hands stopped her shoulder from planking. "Your horn is not made for that, so no." A deep snob voice of a man answered her internal question as if he read her mind.
Someone caught me! Stumbling like a clumsy silly little girl, Cent looked up at the hands on her face from the earlier exhibition. A gorgeous model-like man stared hard at her as if he was also observing her. Dude, this one is a giant!
Her eyes met his familiar green eyes. No way! We have the same eyes! Wait. If there are goblins. Cent glanced at the nervous-looking goblin before she looked up at the man who was still holding her firmly. Maybe I am also related to creatures with green eyes.
In one swoop, the Grand Duke of the Demon World guided Cent to sit properly on the edge of the bed. Gukasho felt that his master needed to be alone in breaking the truth to his daughter so he slipped from the room, leaving the two who were staring at each other with wonder.
But Cent did not mind the looming figure standing before her as flailed her arms when she finally felt the additional attachment at her back. Are these wings? Why do I have wings? Aren't horns enough oddity? And now a pair of black butterfly-like wings? Who am I now, Mariposa? Dude, shut up!
Her internal panic was interrupted by the obvious clearing of his voice as if he needed my attention which he succeeded in getting. Her wary eyes met his blank ones. For some odd reason, Cent felt that she saw that pair of eyes already, and thought that she immediately scratched.
"I don't know who is Mariposa. But those wings are not butterfly wings, they are a demon's wings."
Her jaws hitting the floor, Cent failed to load the information. But one question popped into her chaotic mind. Am I a demon then? Wait, demons are real? So do angels? And vampires? And werewolves?
"Yes, you are. You are Crescent the Glutton, the only child of Beelzebub the Glutton. My one and only child."
Cent could picture her mind going static from information overload. Yup, I am in a dream. Or! I am in a dream within a dream! Or worse, I am dead.
The man who was claiming his father and a demon tilted his head, his eyes blankly staring at her which creep her heck out!
But deep down, her logical side told her that this revelation would make sense of the odd predicament that she was experiencing ever since she could remember. And now, she got some horns and wings, which would point out, her being a demon of some sort. "How can I know that you are my father?" I mean, with your looks, dude we have nothing alike except the occasional lime-green eyes.
"Hmmm. I can't do what humans do to confirm blood relations. But I guess this will do." Stepping backward, a flame with the same colors as his eyes engulfed him. And the man who was once standing before her suddenly turned into a gigantic horned and winged creature. Gone was the gorgeous face replaced by a feral-looking giant with horns the same as hers and wings identical to hers. Only bigger.
"A demon," uttered Cent. Instead of feeling scared, she felt at owed while gazing up at the dominant creature who she kept on seeing in her dreams. So you are real.
She hated being the logical type of person but she could see the brighter side of the situation. In front of her was her long-lost family member. All those times, Cent was not alone. And by looking at the identical features they shared, Cent found hope.
"Are you my father?" Cent whispered as he gazed at the gigantic demon surrounded by infernal flames before her. She stretched her right hand as if her small arms could touch him.
In a blink of an eye, his large callous hand took hers. His fingernails were as sharp as razors. "I am Beelzebub the Glutton, the Grand Duke of the Demon World. And I am your father, Crescent."
"Then why? Why appear now? Why abandoned me? Did I do something wrong? Why?"