The Guardian Demon (The Guardians of Nine Heavens #3)

Chapter 44: At the Dragon Party

The Long Palace of Dragon spirits bustled with preparations: they were getting ready for a grand feast to celebrate the return of the founder of their clan - Yuebai Long the Lord of Perfection, and the arrival of their new member - Cao Long the Thunder Dragon.

The imperial family which organized the feast consisted of the eldest of the clan, Hong Long - an old man with a long white braid and an even longer white beard; the current emperor Huo Long - a fire dragon-man with a blazing red braid and a red stubble which rendered him quite comely; his wife, Empress Huanghua Long, a blonde dragon lady - the dragon of the sun; and their children: the heir to the throne, Xiao-Hong Long - a handsome fire-dragon boy with a red braid like his father and blue twinkling eyes like his mother, and Luhua Long - the green jade dragon lady with the beautiful green braid and shimmering yellow eyes full of ferocity and beauty. 

Xiao-Hong Long's half-human wife (half-human since her soul had been turned into the one of a dragon but she retained her human body to live out the life she had begun as a human), Rose Cassidy, who happened to be Lucy Caldwell's close friend, attended the party too as a relatively new member of the imperial dragon family. As a dragon-human, she too carried her red hair tied in a long braid with the hair-tie of the Long Dragon Clan - her Bond Item with Xiao-Hong Long, who had started as her guardian spirit and ended up as her husband. Unlike the dragon spirits, though, Rose wore glasses - something that hinted at her human nature. She was twenty years old like Lucy and had already gained a new dragon name, which suited her quite well - Meigui Long, the red dragon of roses.

Among the honourable guests, there were, of course, the Royal Family of Huli Clan: Yuehong Huli the Lord of Transformation (who happened to be the very twin brother of Lord Yuebai Long), Lucy Caldwell, or, as the spirits more knew her as, Celestial Bunny Queen Lutecia de Lapin, and their daughter, Nine-tailed Fox Queen Mei Huli. Other honourable guests included the Royal Family of Hell - Archangel Samael the Lord of Destruction, Queen Lilith, and their only son Prince Incubus, as well as the demon princess Succubus (who was Samael's niece, and a daughter to the new member of the Long Clan - Cao Long the Thunder Dragon), and the High Family of Eden - Archangel Michael the Lord of Creation (who happened to be Samael's very brother), Lady Mary, Lord Joseph, and their only son, Holy Spirit Isah the Saviour of Humanity.

The Royal Family of the Kujaku Clan - the peacock spirits - attended the party as honourable guests too. This family consisted of Prince Zefiro Kujaku - the colourful peacock prince who happened to be Mei Huli's very husband, and King Hoshiro Kujaku - the white peacock and the Phoenix King, younger brother of Zefiro. King Hoshiro's wife, half-human just like Rose Cassidy, Samantha Nutts, had accompanied them too, along with her adoptive mother Sandra Nutts. Samantha was Lucy's best friend, only seventeen years old, yet already quite knowledgeable in spirit history and customs since she had accompanied Lucy in many of her adventures. In the end, Lucy's husband Yuehong transformed her into a squirrel spirit, according to her own wish, so that she'd be allowed to marry King Hoshiro Kujaku as a spirit. As a squirrel, she became her guardian spirit Sandra Nutts' daughter, and the two had never parted since.

The only guest who was completely human was Johanne, invited to the feast by the Lord of Perfection himself. Even if she hadn't received that high-class invitation, though, she'd still have attended the party, because all those royal and imperial families happened to be parts of her own family: Queen Lilith was her aunt, while Lucy Caldwell, or Lady Lutecia de Lapin, was a cousin of her mother Linda Black. Archangel Michael was Linda Black's guardian angel, while Incubus, Mei Huli, and Isah were Johanne's guardians. Apart from that, the new member of the Long Clan, Cao Long, happened to be her soul brother. So, she was more than authorized to join the spirits' feast.

During the feast that lasted for days, Johanne and Mei encouraged Cao Long, or Cedric Ivory of elder days, to get to know jade dragon Luhua in person:

"Come on, you've been dreaming about this your entire life!" Johanne said, "Now you finally have a chance!"

"But she's a high-class royalty, an imperial princess!" Cao, as a new member of the Long Clan and as a former human, felt intimidated. "I don't know if I can_"

"Heh, no worries! She's my bestie!" Mei laughed, "Come along, Cao, it's time to make your dream come true!"

Thus, without paying heed to Cao's timidity, the girls grabbed him and took him to Luhua Long who was hanging out with Rose Cassidy, her sister-in-law and a close friend, in another corner.

"Hey, Luhua, Rose, meet Johanne's brother, Cao Long!" Mei pointed them at the boy. "He's the new thunder dragon and Demon Princess Succubus' father. Cool, right?"

"Oh, so you're the new dragon!" Rose adjusted her glasses to take a better look at him, "It's so nice to meet you! I'm Rose_ Err, Meigui Long!"

She bowed as was the custom among the spirits. Cao answered the same way:

"Cao Long. It's a great honour for me to meet you, Your Highnesses!"

"Hehe, drop the formalities! I've heard that you're a former human. Well, I'm still a human. Only my soul is that of a dragon." Rose smiled. "All these dragon traditions and royalty stuff are still pretty unusual to me. I'm still learning."

"Hehe..." Cao awkwardly scratched the back of his head, as he used to when he was still a human.

"Wow, a former human and a thunder dragon, huh?" Luhua smiled. "You do look cute!"

"Oh, thank you so much! Your Highness..." 

Cao grew red, to be thus praised by the dream girl of his life, who appeared quite beautiful in her human form.

"Come on! Join the party. You're one of us now!"

Luhua, quite energetic and free-spirited, grabbed the flushed-up Cao's hand and took him to the center of the hall to have a dance. Mei and Johanne laughed, for they understood that Cao was already on the path of realising his dreams - Luhua had likewise taken a liking to him.

While the spirits feasted merrily in the halls, Johanne walked out on a balcony, leant on the balustrade, and looked up at the bright stars.

Now, she had everything she could ever dream of: her family was complete, her cousins were her guardians - a demon, a spirit, and an angel - all of the highest class; and her brother too had realised his wish and met the jade dragon, even become a part of her clan. Finally, she could feel happy at heart.

"Enjoying the night view?"

She flinched and looked behind - Incubus had approached her. She smiled:

"Yeah."

"I love nights, too. They always reminded me of my mom when she wasn't there. It's also the time when people dream and give me a chance to connect with them."

"Yeah... We met at night, too. Remember, when you penetrated through my dreams back when I was Joan and then later in my current incarnation?" Johanne chuckled. "I'd love it if you returned. Your cakes were delicious."

Incubus laughed.

"You enjoyed my presence?"

"Yes. And then, I could give you hugs and purify you, so you wouldn't be hit by your father anymore." She chuckled. "I think it's a win-win situation."

Incubus let out another laugh. He then grew gloomier:

"So, what do you think - will we ever be... together?"

"Well, it's complicated..." Johanne cast her eyes down. "You and I are technically cousins, so, I think, we're not meant to be. As friends and each other's eternal supporters - yes, but as lovers - no."

"Yeah, I understand."

Incubus heaved a sigh. Johanne placed her hand on his shoulder to comfort him:

"You're an eternity old, Incubus. You need someone of your own rank. And... I'll always have you in my heart, as a cousin, and a brother."

She hugged him tightly, sending him all the warmth she held in her heart and soul. A happy smile covered Incubus' face, warmed up by the light energy of the tiny human. He hugged her back:

"I'll always be your guardian, whatever may come."

"My guardian demon!" Johanne grinned. "Thank you for everything, Incubus. I wouldn't have done it without you."

The cousins - the demon and the human - had embraced each other under the night sky, while the stars twinkled above them.