NOVEL WEB 120. Civil Wars (X)
Once Lucius fell, the heart had been torn out of the army. Marcus’ forces swept through, and both fronts collapsed. Lucius’ Warlords fell one after another. A 20-foot golem was struck down at the knees, then pounced on by a sphinx and phoenix alike, never to rise again. A dragon was wrestled to the ground and strangled. The more enemy warlords fell, the quicker they fell, as Marcus's Warlords joined in.
Jin and Ruyi barely had anything to do. By the time they fought their way over, the last vestiges of Lucius's generals were wiped out. A few demons managed to escape, trickling their way back whence they came, but most were forced to their knees. Demons were famous for their unwillingness to surrender and passion for bloodlust; they would fight until their last breath. But it was hard to keep that fire when you saw your leaders struck down one by one.
By the end of it, only two forces remained. The humans on one side of the valley, making a long, straight line. And the demons on the other, in a ragged one. On one side was an emperor, on the other, a demon who was once Lord of Demons—and was now Lord of Demons again.
There was a tense quiet.
Then a single dot broke loose from the pack, broke the silence. Ruyi burst out of the demon line. "Jin!" she cried, as she dashed across the divide as quickly as she could. Jin's guards made to stop her, but he held them off with a hand. "Rue—“ he began.
She tackled him in a hug so hard he nearly fell over. He blinked, patted her on the back, smiled softly, and said, "I missed you too." Then she started crying for no reason she could figure out. It was just a little overwhelming seeing him. She clung to him and wept on his shoulder, and he patted her.
Then it felt like all the tension had been punctured at once. The demons burst out in raucous, throaty cheers. So did the humans; relief at their victory washed over them all at once. It was over, at last!
The demons, all in human form, and as the humans looked across the gap at the creatures they had just fought alongside, they had never seen a real demon in person. Ruyi heard whispers—they were shocked at how human they seemed. Most were still wary, though; the demons hugged one another, threw one another about, broke into dancing, and the humans celebrated in their own way on their own side.
Then Marcus crossed the gap, too, alone, and Jin walked out to meet him. He had to do this in an awkward waddle, since Ruyi refused to let go of him, even when the guards tried to pry her off.
"It is very nice to meet you," said Marcus. "Ruyi has told me much about you."
“Likewise,” said Jin. They shook hands.
"Congratulations are in order," said Marcus. He seemed decades younger now the stress was off him; his smile was real.
So the prophecy is thus fulfilled—the Demon Lord is slain! "And you have brought peace to the land," said Marcus.
"Not yet," said Jin with a weary smile, "not for me at least." "We shall see to that," said Marcus. "I plan to uphold my end of the bargain, rest assured."
Then he turned back to his people and raised his Lord's Scepter. They turned; they quieted. "If not for this man, if not for his troops," Marcus said, "we would all have surely perished here today. I can proudly call Jin, the human emperor, my brother from this day forth. He is your brother too! Let us show him and his men a demon's honor and hospitality!"
Ruyi was surprised; he got cheers for that. They were all drunk off of winning, she guessed. She hoped the good feeling would last.
Jin turned to his men too. "These folk are our allies," he said. "They come to help liberate us just as we have come to help them—tomorrow they will march along with us, side by side. We will treat them not as humans or as demons but as friends."
This last bit came out a little garbled because Ruyi started nuzzling his cheek. She later learned that these messages were especially effective because of her, apparently. It was very possible for a human and a demon to cooperate, even to show love for each other. She was showing it to them.
***
Finally, they managed to pry Ruyi off of Jin. A whirlwind took hold of the valley; the demons were bent on celebrating, and the humans couldn't resist joining in, just a little. Jin took her to see his other generals, Chen Huo, and Wang Zhu— And then Ruyi froze.
Behind them were two very familiar faces; it was Sen and Tingting, side by side.
She ran for them. First, she hugged Tingting, who gave a little "eep!", then Sen, who just stood there like a stick, arms rigid at her sides, and took it.
"I missed you so much! Both of you," she said, not going to cry again, she told herself. She embarrassed herself already doing it in front of everyone. "You came for me!"
Tingting smiled. "Of course!"
Sen coughed, looking away. "It was my duty."
Tingting wrinkled her nose. "She was the fastest out of anyone to volunteer when she heard you were in trouble—"
"No!" said Sen, turning back, even redder. "That is a lie. Liar!"
"Thank you," sniffled Ruyi.
She looked at Tingting, and then to Sen. They were both playing with their hands, looking at their feet, looking anywhere but one another. It was a strange energy here; she couldn't figure it out. She let it go; she was just happy her friends were all here.
//
They ate one big dinner together. The humans tried raw meat and the demons pastries and roast beef. Both sides seemed to agree that the other's food was awful. But at least they were sitting together now in long rows, talking to one another, sometimes laughing with one another. Ruyi had thought it would be harder to get them this close. But they were realizing they were far more alike than they were different.
She still didn't think they would all come together and live together. Demons were a lot more aggressive and warlike; the nomadic where they lived, the free-spirited attitude they had toward pleasures and fighting, the brutal supremacy of strength, the blunt ways they spoke even—it set them too far apart. And one used essence, the other qi; humans couldn't cultivate on demon land and it was the same the other way around.
Still, though, she had a lot more hope now—at least they could be good neighbors.
After dinner, she dragged Jin aside and told him her story, all the way through, everything that had happened since they last met. She couldn't sit still the whole time. They made camp in the valley; they sat outside Jin's tent around a little fire. All around them were little tents with little flickering fires, stretching out into the distance like a field of stars. They looked up, and they could see real stars too, shining like hope.
"Do you think they'll let me go back?" whispered Ruyi.
"I'll make them let you go back," said Jin. "I'm the Emperor, remember?"
She leaned her head against him. He softened. "But after all this—after we go back together—I can't imagine a world where we can live together, and be good to each other. There's no law of fate that says humans and demons must be enemies. It's just tradition, I guess."
"It's a stupid tradition," said Ruyi.
"I think so too," said Jin.
"Maybe," said Ruyi, "after all this is over, I can stay on this side. And maybe I can help make a new tradition here, while you can make one over there."
"Maybe," said Jin.
"But you have to come and visit me," said Ruyi. "Every week."
"Every week might be a little—"
"Every month. At least once a month. You have to."
"... Sure, sis. Sure."
Later, she introduced Jin to her demon friends too—Aelia, Livia, and Darius. They all seemed to take to each other, which Ruyi was pretty happy about.
That night, she plopped down and had the deepest sleep she had in a long time. It had been a great day. For now, for just this wonderful moment, everything was happy and nothing hurt. She hoped it would last forever.