Heaven and Hell

TWENTY-EIGHT

A U T U M N ' S D A W N

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INSTINCTIVELY, FABIAN RAISED a single hand to his lips, shielding his mouth from a chuckle that threatened to slip past. Beside him, Wilhelm had failed to suppress his laughter and had already doubled over, his hands clutching his stomach while tears peeked from the corner of his eyes.

On the sand, the girl caught wind of the commotion and spun around. Her eyes burned with fury as she clambered onto her feet, picking at her dress with her hands without care of the sand that clung desperately on the fabric.

"You!" She yelled, pointing a finger at Wilhelm. "Why are you laughing at me? Who are you to laugh?"

"I apologize," Wilhelm replied fluently, biting his bottom lip in order to force his laughter back down. "It's just that I had not expected your first words in Hell to be to curse someone."

"Be careful that I do not curse you instead!" The young teenager had stormed her way over, arms folded across her chest and cheeks painted scarlet by her temper. "Damned foreigner."

"He means no harm, Miss." Smoothly, Fabian stepped in between the pair. Behind his back, he pushed Wilhelm further away so that his silent laughter could not be so obviously seen. "You're just a curiosity."

Maybe it was because the lady felt more comfortable around someone that resembled her townsfolk, maybe it was because she hadn't seen Fabian laughing at her with her own two eyes. Whatever the reason was, it soothed her tantrum and subdued her to a simple 'hmph' under her breath.

Her gaze returned to the people by the beach, scanning everyone over one by one as her frown deepened. Immediately, Fabian knew what she was thinking and what she was searching for. There was no one else that spoke her language nor looked anything like her. She was of a different race compared to the other souls, one that had been scarce in the batches of souls that had been thrown to Hell and expelled from Heaven.

"Why are you the only other person that resembles our people?" She asked, her dainty eyebrows pulled and scrunched together. "Where is this place?"

"You're in Hell, little lady." Having recovered from his fit of laughter, Wilhelm sauntered back, resting an arm on Fabian's shoulder. "You're dead."

"Dead?" The girl echoed, sucking in her cheeks. She then nodded once, muttering to herself, "well that makes sense. Those two scums did poison my tea. I would've been a celestial maiden if I lived through that."

"Poison your tea?" Wilhelm had an incredulous look on his face, lips slightly parting with interest at the young lady's words. "What did you do to get assassinated like that? Were you an important figure? I doubt a princess would act like this, though."

The lady shook her head. "My name is Peng Qiu Xia. I was the general's daughter in my country. Where I'm from, it is common to have more than one wife and a pair of my half siblings plotted to have me killed. They didn't like the fact that I was betrothed to the crown prince and wanted to steal the position."

Beneath his breath, Wilhelm let out a slow whistle. His eyes scanned the Qiu Xia's figure, mentally calculating her age in his head. At fifteen, the girl was already betrothed to be married. What was life like in the mortal world that allowed for such a crazy tradition?

Fabian, who had easily read his brother's thoughts with just the look of horror displayed on Wilhelm's face, coughed loudly. "It's a common age for women to be married in the mortal realm. Don't look so surprised."

"She's practically a child!" Wilhelm had his arms held out, gesturing at Qiu Xia while staring intently at Fabian.

"What a sheltered life you demons live if you think that's the worst of the mortal realm." With a scoff, Qiu Xia flicked her wrist, causing her long sleeve to fly and the water droplets on it to soar. "I've seen battle and treated the wounded. I've buried the dead and schemed for other people's death in order to secure my own survival. Marriage was considered to be the least of my worries."