As Above So Below

Chapter 9

After getting dressed in something a bit nicer (which was basically just a cleaner version of what he had on yesterday), he went out through the front door; not being pestered by the cats first.

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“Where are you going, Lord Kcalb?”

“To where are you going?”

They asked. Kcalb gave a brief sigh, and replied with the most honest answer. This was how he truly felt after so long of feeling so… angry. As to why, he could not explain. Was it because he was a demon, and that was just his ‘demon’ kicking him in the face?

“I’m going to apologize for all I have done to Etihw. All of this is… pointless; it’s silly, really. I now realize that, and I wish to make peace with the angels.”

Ater and Arbus smiled and both bowed, before running back inside to play with the other three. Outside, everything seemed to be repaired overnight. Etihw sure was good at fixing things. Thinking about it further, what if Etihw didn’t forgive him? He could never forgive himself for this mess, that was for sure. He wasn’t ready to hear her answer, and he almost decided against apologizing, but upon further analysis, apologizing would be the way to go either way; no matter what Etihw said.

Knocking on the door, feeling it rude to simply sneak through as he did with his cats, he waited to see Wodahs answer the door. He had a defensive glare, but upon looking further, noticed the sadness beneath the demon’s eyes.

“Brother… you repent.”

The head angel said, as he got a nod from the older one. He was nervous to admit it, but Wodahs nodded, and let him in without any difficulty. He was relieved, and even had assistance to an easier way to the throne room of Etihw. Entering the room, Etihw seemed quite startled that Wodahs was bringing in Kcalb, but he reassured her by saying,

“Lady Etihw, Kcalb has no means to hurt you. He feels remorse for what he has done, and by realizing it, wishes to apologize.”

A smile grew on the god’s gentle face as she walked down to him and looked him in the eye, in which he nervously looked away; cheeks flushed and pupils swelling black. She grinned, and put her hands on his shoulders.

“You truly feel that way…”

She said quietly, getting silence from the demon, as per usual. After a while, he gave a nervous nod, and the god pulled him into a hug. They were now twenty eight and thirty four thousand years old… so many years since Etihw had last embraced him. It was nice to feel her warmth against his cold skin. Grora, from the side of the throne, smiled, saying,

“Look at the little love bugs all of a sudden! Never imagined this to be the worldwide OTP.”

Etihw grinned at the angel, and pulled away from the hug, seeing Kcalb’s face immediately light up the moment she placed a kiss on his cheek.

“Welcome home, Kcalb.”

…

Kcalb picked out a new wardrobe of a simple black tux and tie with a long black coat with diamonds along the border. Of course, the coat was a redux of the fur coat he wore many years ago, and his wings and tails served the purpose of providing the jacket for him. He had also cut his hair to a more… sustainable length, and dressed himself up as much as he could. He didn’t want to see himself the way he was those years ever again; a change was in order. His comrades greeted him with respect, and Etihw appeared at his castle. Opening the door, Kcalb saw that she had also cut her hair to shoulder length; maybe a bit longer. She still had her usual dress pattern, but a different design. She had her hands folded most of the time, and she smiled up at him.

“Hey, Kcalb.”

She said, as the demon let her in. The rest greeted her normally, and it was safe to say that peace had returned.  After a time of festivity, and a guest appearance by Sherbet, Rigatona, and Ciel, Etihw teleported Kcalb to a mountainside where they could see off into the sky in a beautiful garden of flowers.

“We’re going to have to make a new castle now, for the both of us. We’re going to have to start fresh again. Rename everything…”

She began.

“Yeah….”

Kcalb replied blankly, staring off into the distance. The flowers around them danced around their feet, and the butterflies and bees hummed happily through the air. It was so peaceful now, now that everything was back to the way it was. The gardens were as beautiful as ever; he hoped someone might share the same adoration he held for them.

“As for Rigatona, Ciel, Sherbet, Yosaflame, Lost, and Cranber… we’re going to have to reincarnate them into something.”

Etihw blurted out.

“I’d like to only focus on naming things…. I have a few ideas for the castle.”

Kcalb muttered in reply, not making any eye contact.

“Really? Let me hear them.”

Enthusiastically, she looked at Kcalb, who did not return the gesture.

“Hmm… Blancblack castle? Blanco as in white, and Black.”

He replied matter-of-factly. Etihw laughed.

“You always managed to put ‘black’ in all your territories, huh? I like it, though! Now a name for the garden… Oh! I have some names for the reincarnations! What about Yosafire for Yosaflame, Froze for Sherbet, Macarona for Rigatona, Rawberry and Raspbel for Cranber; she can have two, why not? Dialo for Lost, and Chelan for Ciel! Incorporating ‘Chi’ for Chelan, of course.”

The names in Kcalb’s opinion weren’t terrible, but he didn’t want to think about his friends having to be reincarnated into younger children, perhaps even of different gender. Oh well, he’d get over it. As for the garden… well, it couldn’t have anything to do with the color ‘black’; he used it too much and, for Etihw, didn’t want to make her irritated by the fact that everything revolved around that color. He thought for a moment after taking the names of the reincarnations into account, and spoke up.

“The Blancblack Garden? Hmm…”

“Hmm…”

They both pondered. It wasn’t a bad idea, but Kcalb wanted a more ‘creative’ name, so to say, even if it was just one little word. Suddenly, he got an idea.

“How about The Gray Garden?”

Etihw smiled at the name and hugged him, getting his cheeks to flush a deep pink.

“I love it.”