The Demon King’s Hero Of Light - Volume 1 Chapter 220 220 The Pain Of Time

“So, tell me again. From the beginning,” said Alfred, wrapping Aella’s hands around her mug of cocoa.

“I’ve told you three times already!” sighed Aella, raising the hot mug to smell it.

“Aella, what you did was so far out of the normal for what you’ve done in the past, that we’re just trying to make sense of it!” exclaimed Josephine.

“Meow,” added Precious off to her side.

“I know,” she grumbled, reaching out to pet Precious tentatively so as to not get his wings.

“Can you understand him?” asked Alfred. “I thought you lost that when the realm took away all of your powers?”

“No, I can’t understand him anymore,” she said sadly. “I just know that tone of voice.”

There was a silence and Aella knew that the two heroes were sharing a look.

“Aella, you spent so much effort trying to move everyone and right all the wrongs, why in the world would you want to destroy all of that now?” asked Alfred.

“I was going to burn the whole realm to ashes!” stated Aella firmly, feeling the anger still there. “The realm was going to suffer for trying to force me into something I wanted nothing to do with!”

“But why?” asked Alfred again, sounding angrier and angrier.

“I was starting with the demons so they couldn’t get all upset watching everything around them turn to ash,” said Aella calmly.

“You were aiming for the human city, not the demon city,” growled Alfred.

“Well, I couldn’t see very well with all the fire there at the end. I guess when Frederik distracted me, I got sidetracked. The humans would have been next anyway.”

Aella knew why Alfred was getting so upset. His whole life he had struggled to save people from monsters like her.

“I understand the whole tide thing and occasionally there being a tidal wave of emotions during that time, but this is totally out of character for you,” said Josephine.

“You understand her going insane?!” exclaimed Alfred.

“You went a little insane when your sister died, remember?” asked Josephine.

“That was totally different!” he spat. “That church leader let her get eaten from the inside out by monster worms! He even knew that others in the town had them, and refused to let anyone check to make sure she was okay! If anyone had looked at her for the two days it took her to die, they would have seen immediately what was going on and been able to save her, but no!!”

Aella heard him jump up from the chair he had been sitting in and start pacing. Her eyes still weren’t healed, since her healing was also turned off. Did that mean she would start aging now? Could she die? Was the realm willing to let her die instead, if she refused to give it the kids it wanted?

“Alfred, one crazed person per room, please,” said Josephine calmly, and Aella heard him sigh before returning to his chair.

“Aella did not just lose her sister. In fact, she didn’t lose anything!” argued Alfred.

“I didn’t?” she growled. “The last time I had someone tell me I was going to do something, and there was nothing I could do about it; I was in the pits. We all know what I did to get out of there!”

“Oh! That makes more sense!” blurted Josephine.

“What?” asked Alfred confused.

“Aella told us that she had been trying not to spread her pheromones, but instead ended up bombing each place she had gone to, right?” explained Josephine.

Aella listened in, wondering what Josephine had figured out.

“Yeah?” said Alfred, not sounding as if he understood where Josephine was going.

“She also said that when she found out, she had gone into a cave and basically punched everything until she had drained all of the excessive energy gone, right?”

“Right,” said Alfred, getting annoyed with the length of the explanation.

“She was having highs and lows. They didn’t get a chance to even out before she exploded,” said Josephine as if she had solved the whole mystery.

“What?” breathed Alfred. “That doesn’t make any more sense than her trying to burn the whole realm!”

“Sure, it does,” said Josephine soothingly. “She had a high, where she thought she had finally figured out a way to get around a problem, then a super low when she found out it didn’t work and actually was way worse than the original problem. Then, a high as she ‘fought’ the news, followed by another low. She spoke briefly with Bob, who gave her a high of encouragement to speak with the realm about the problem, then when the realm triggered a memory of her past, she flew into a really deep low. It’s all about the waves of emotions and the time of the full moon is making those waves even more severe.”

There was silence in the room for a moment and Aella finished her cocoa.

“I think you’ve lost it,” muttered Alfred. “None of that made any sense at all!”

“Then what do you think?” huffed Josephine.

“I think all of the powers Aella was given went to her head and she snapped. Temporary insanity,” said Alfred. “And due to that, I don’t think she should be allowed to be the realm guardian, or king, or whatever.”

“You think I’ve lost all of my powers forever?” asked Aella in a soft voice. She felt in a limbo. What would she do now that she was blind and powerless? Would she end up as a beggar on the streets?

“No, I think eventually you’re going to have a kid and the realm will release the curse it placed on you,” grumbled Alfred.

“I will NEVER have a kid!” she spat, the rage that had been there before was back.

“Alfred,” warned Josephine.

“This is insane! Aella, there is nothing wrong with having a kid!” argued Alfred. “I have a kid, and probably another on the way!”

“What?” exclaimed Aella. “Traitor!”

Alfred continued, as if she hadn’t said anything, “And there is absolutely no way I am going to let you get your powers back after that stunt! If I have to keep you chained in this room for the rest of my life, then so be it!”

“Mrowr,” growled Precious.

“I don’t know what the cat said, but I think you’re being stupid, too,” said Josephine. “I think that the realm needs a guardian, otherwise the next attack we get, will kill us all.”

“Let the realm pick someone else. Aella isn’t stable enough to be allowed the powers she had!” demanded Alfred.

“Alfred,” said Aella softly, gaining control of herself in order to get his attention. “If you lost your sister, and then went on a rampage killing people, had your powers taken from you as a result, then were told you had to have a kid to pass on your powers, what would you do?”

“This is not the same thing!” he insisted. “You didn’t lose anything!”

“I lost my freedom!” snapped Aella. “I worked hard every day of every moment from the time my father taught me to walk, to make sure I could survive when he was gone. Then I had to work hard every moment of my life to survive against others wanting me dead. I didn’t have a spare moment to breathe safely until I was crowned king of the demons. And even then, I had people trying to constantly stifle me. I worked hard every moment to make it so that others didn’t have to work so hard to survive. I had a little freedom to breathe, but only a little, because I still had to make sure things were running smoothly, and they weren’t!

“When the realm decided I was going to be the guardian, instead of the demon king, I had to give up all of the hard work I had done, and hope that Seifer would be able to do what was needed to keep things going. I had to accept the fact he saw things differently than me, but I was okay with that because I had too many other things to keep on top of. I had already lost a year of work because of a volcano!

“Now, when I almost had things working out, these damn pheromones kept getting in the way and suddenly the realm decides that it wants me to do something I never intended to do! And I don’t have a choice in the matter?!”

She sat there, half perched in her chair, as far as the chains wrapped around her would allow, breathing hard for a moment, fighting to get herself under control.

“Having a kid is nothing like fighting for your life or the freedoms of the people,” said Alfred deadpan.

“My mother died giving birth to me, so I beg to differ,” Aella growled.

“But you heal, Aella,” said Josephine.

“Not anymore,” snapped Aella, waving her hand in front of her face angrily. “I used to kill those that took my freedoms. That was how I dealt with things.”

“You know that you can’t just burn the whole realm, just because it is forcing you to do something you don’t like!” exclaimed Alfred.

“I can’t kill myself; it won’t let me die,” she said, reaching for Precious again. “I thought about that already.”

“Mew,” said Precious, standing up and climbing into her lap.

“Aella, things are not that bad,” sighed Josephine. “So, you don’t want a child. Fine. The realm doesnt want you to lose your pheromones for a month each year in the hopes you’ll change your mind, fine. None of that should have gotten to such a level as all of this. You are chained to a chair in the dungeons of the human city, with all of your powers locked away, because you turned against everything you were supposed to protect.”

“This is not like you,” insisted Alfred.

“Aella,” spoke the realm. Its voice filled the room, causing everyone to grow silent. “I’ve found another pureblood gargoyle in another realm. He is the last of his kind and is willing to come here. I am willing to make him your replacement, if you are not interested in the position of guardian.”

“Now wait a moment!” spat Alfred. “What is all this nonsense about wanting gargoyles anyway?!”

Aella snorted, not expecting the realm to respond, but it did to her surprise.

“I was a gargoyle once, and created this realm to save them all. If they disappear, I will have failed.”

“If that’s the case, why all the other races, the heroes, and why haven’t you stepped up before to do anything? This is all very abrupt, especially without any explanation!” demanded Josephine.

“I forgot myself in my weakened state, after creating the realm. The main purpose in creating it has been trickling back as I’ve grown stronger. I don’t understand why Aella doesn’t wish to have children. I thought the pheromones being concentrated in the gargoyle parts of her would encourage her to have them, but I was wrong. I will remove her pheromones, causing her to become sterile, and I will bring in this other gargoyle to have many children to carry on the gargoyle traits.”

“Then why take away her guardian position?” demanded Alfred.

Aella didn’t want to point out that he was the one who didn’t want her to be allowed the job since they were actually getting answers from the realm.

“The powers she has will be returned to her, but the power to reproduce full-blooded young is tied to the guardian position. I don’t have enough power just yet to separate them, and the sooner gargoyles come back, the better.”

“How do you know this stranger from another realm will want to protect this realm? He won’t have anything to motivate him,” argued Josephine.

“I would rather Aella produce the young, than bringing in another gargoyle to take over the guardian position, but she is not willing,” said the realm.

“Give her time,” offered Alfred.

“I do not have time,” said the realm. “Because I created the realm to protect the gargoyle race, it will start to destabilize without a significant gargoyle population. That is why my powers had grown so weak prior to Aella’s birth.”

“So, more storms?” asked Josephine.

“Worse. The realm itself will break apart,” said the realm.

Aella hung her head. She would not have kids! Nothing the realm did at this point would change that. But once again, it was her fault that everything was unraveling.

“Bring in every gargoyle you can find, but only to raise the population in the realm. Then unlock Aella’s powers, remove her pheromones, reinstate her as the guardian, and give her time. If she doesn’t change her mind, you may grow strong enough to separate the two at a later date. The gargoyles can be breeding and raising the population in that time,” said Alfred.

“But, Aella wanted to destroy the realm,” said the realm.

“Only because you were forcing her hand!” argued Josephine. “You can’t force people to accept what you want, without them rebelling in whichever way is available!”

“I am sorry, I will do as you suggest. There is still much I must remember in order to make better decisions,” said the realm finally. “But know that if the gargoyle population does not grow in the next couple of years, the realm will start to unravel, and there will be nothing I can do to stop it when it starts.”

“What a mess,” Alfred muttered, rubbing his face.

As Aella’s eyes regenerated, she saw that he looked very haggard, with large dark circles under his eyes. Josephine didn’t look much better. Her hair was tied into a hasty bun, and her clothes were rumbled and dirty. Glancing down at Precious, she saw that even he looked exhausted, and his fur was not the normal sheen it normally was.

“I have to go check and make sure these new gargoyles don’t cause troubles, assuming they appear in my town,” said Alfred, throwing open the dungeon door and streaking away.

“Aella! I was so worried!” exclaimed Frederik, rushing into the room and pausing at the sight of her chains.