All the plans for the expedition to hell were set now. Before it would begin, Esdeath and Maruti would go to the demon realm to grow stronger. In that meantime, Kailith would go to the Church Kingdom to train under Igret, the succubus queen, who was one of the demon lords.
While Lortell would take full charge of training others such as Selene, Alice, Ravenna, and the rest.
True to Esdeath's personality, she wasn't going to waste much time before executing this plan. Her initial plan was to depart for the demon realm the very next day.
But unfortunately, an unexpected news came in today's newspaper that made Esdeath postpone her plan for some time.
It wasn't something groundbreaking, just a simple news confirmed by expert information path Awakeneds who had expertise in astrology. They confirmed that there was going to be a crimson moon tonight.
It was a random phenomenon that happened every few years. Sometimes it happened twice a year, and sometimes only once in one or two years.
It was actually quite normal news for many others. Many people celebrated this day as a festival, while some communities had their own special traditions regarding it. It was a completely normal thing.
But for Esdeath, it was a serious matter. According to a prophecy done by Jeanne, in the starting phase, there were lines:
"When the blood moon ascends, its crimson glow will light the sky,
And the heart of the demon, pulsing, dark, shall you defy.
A fate intertwined, both cruel and divine,
You shall consume him whole, his power made thine.
Yet the stars above will weave their schemes,
Constellations aligning to shatter your dreams."
From the first half of the poem sung by Jeanne, it was kind of obvious that something great would be done by a constellation to shatter Esdeath's schemes.
Now that today was actually going to be the crimson moon, she had to be prepared for anything unexpected that could happen today. A sense of unease settled over her.
Esdeath didn't keep any secrets this time. She told Lortell about the prophecy as well, explaining about the situation in short, serious words. Lortell listened, her face growing serious as she understood the danger.
After that, she went to meet Maruti again and told her about everything, telling her to be prepared for tonight. Maruti, who was usually carefree, nodded, taking her words seriously.
Maruti then informed Kailith and Alice about the situation. Although she didn't explain it as clearly as Esdeath did, she only roughly said that there might be danger tonight, her voice low and urgent, making sure they understood the importance of being alert.
As of right now, in the early night, Lortell, Maruti, Alice, Kailith, Selene, and last, at the very front, Esdeath, were standing on the rooftop of Lortell's palace.
Their heads were up, looking at the sky. Today was a cloudy day with a lot of wind, making their hairs and clothes flutter gently around them.
"You sure something's gonna happen?" Maruti asked, doubtful as always, her voice a little bored.
"It is not necessary that danger will come from the sky. It can be in any form. So be on alert," Esdeath replied calmly, her eyes scanning the horizon.
They watched as the cloudy atmosphere slowly vanished, and the full, bright white moon showed itself, like a perfect pearl in the dark sky.
But it didn't last long. A few minutes later, as the darkness got deeper, the smooth, vibrant white shade of the moon slowly started to fade, turning into a deep, eerie red, bit by bit, like it was bathing in blood.
Everyone went on even more alert as the moon turned red. The air felt thick with tension. Lortell, especially, was on high alert. She was making sure that nothing would happen to Esdeath, no matter what, her body tense and ready to protect.
The time passed by slowly. The only sounds were the buzzing of crickets in the distance.
Eyes opening and closing!
Gazes going from one point to another, searching for any sign of movement.
Small clicking sounds came from the shifting of the sword in Kailith's hand. There was the sound of Alice's anxious and fearful shivering. Every time she thought of what unexpected thing could happen, a small tremor would go through her body.
Maruti, although always cheerful, had a firm face as well. She knew if Esdeath was this serious, then fooling around was not an option.
Her gaze was as tough as a monolith, waiting for whatever was coming.
Ten minutes... twenty minutes... two hours... four hours... ten hours...
Ten hours passed by. They had been on the rooftop since 8 PM, and now it was 6 AM in the morning. The long night had been exhausting.
The moon had faded away, and small golden rays of the sun were starting to peek through the clouds, painting the sky with soft colors.
Alice and Selene had already fallen asleep, leaning against each other. While Maruti's eyes were already turned slightly red. Her eyes were closing for a few seconds as if she were falling asleep, but then she would force herself awake every time.
It wasn't like she couldn't stay awake for one night; she was just having a hard time with the sheer boredom of the situation.
Kailith, being a dragon, had no trouble not sleeping for one night. Same went for Lortell as well, she was a vampire after all.
"It's daytime already. Were you just wasting our time?" Maruti said with a long, tired sigh.
Esdeath didn't reply. She herself had a confused expression on her face. Even she didn't expect this outcome.
"Why did nothing happen? It was a crimson moon without a doubt. Fuck, I need an explanation for this, Jeanne!" she thought to herself, a mix of confusion and anger for her constellation swirling inside her.
She slowly turned around to face her tired friends. "I think there might be some mistake, or something unexpected stopped whatever trouble was coming," she said calmly, trying to sound in control.
She didn't even think about apologizing for the trouble she had caused them.
"You all can go back now," Esdeath added with a faint, tired smile.
"Ohh, fuck. All of it for nothing! I seriously hate you two," Kailith slumped her shoulders in defeat, her voice full of frustration.
"Well, it's a good thing that nothing happened," Lortell added with a light clap, trying to sound positive and grabbing everyone's attention.
"Yes, you guys go and sleep. We will depart in the evening instead," Esdeath said, changing the subject.
"Fuck, I'm sleeping right now. Kailith, take me to home," Maruti said with a final sigh, letting go of her struggle. She fell back and fell asleep the very next second, right there on the rooftop.
Kailith didn't argue. Instead, she bent down and lifted both Maruti and Alice onto her each of her shoulders and kindly took her leave without another look, her powerful form carrying them easily.
Meanwhile, Esdeath also lifted Selene up gently to take her to her bed, where she could sleep more comfortably, her movements soft and caring.
****
After taking Selene to bed, Esdeath also slept for a few hours before waking up in the afternoon. Since the journey might even take more than a month, she wanted to prepare one last meal for Lortell and Selene before departing.
They were already late by schedule, so they just skipped breakfast and went for lunch instead. There was some grilling, juicy meat, a hot soup, and some other spicy things with rice, and ice cream for dessert.
Esdeath had also prepared cookies, specially for Selene.
After the nice lunch, Esdeath left the palace for her own reasons. She walked through the street, looking around at the scenery. The city was bustling with life, but her mind was elsewhere.
Still, the confusion was in her mind. She still couldn't believe that nothing happened at all.
"Is the prophecy wrong? Or is this some other scheme of Jeanne?" she thought to herself, but no conclusion came to her mind. It was frustrating.
At that moment, she saw Maruti also walking towards her from another path. It was a pure accidental meeting.
Maruti stopped as soon as she saw Esdeath. Esdeath stopped as well.
"Huh? You're awake already?" Esdeath asked in surprise.
She was sure that Maruti would not wake up before dawn and would only wake up just right before it was time to depart.
Maruti yawned lightly. "I wasn't planning to, but I need to buy some packs of clothes. Most of the clothes that I have were bought by you that day," she said lightly, reminding about the time in the academy when she asked Esdeath to buy some new clothes along with her academy uniform.
"What about you? Where are you going?" Maruti asks casually, stretching her arms.
"Going to meet a certain someone," Esdeath answers immediately, her eyes looking past Maruti.
"Certain someone?" Maruti repeated, a curious look on her face. "Let's go together then, I'll buy some clothes in the meantime."
"No, I think you might not—" Esdeath was about to disagree as she turned to the front to walk away before Maruti could even persist, but her words got cut off as soon as she saw someone approaching her.
"I guess, there's no need. He's here," Esdeath added lightly, rubbing her temples in frustration, already knowing what was going to happen.
"He?" Maruti repeated as she looked to the front and saw a young man walking towards them.
He had a lean body, long golden hair, and two fully beast ears and a cute tail.
Whether it was his hips, slender legs, or even his chest and belly, everything was too feminine that it was hard to determine if he was a man or a flat-chested girl.
No doubt, it was Corin Reynold, the Duke's only son.
He waved his hands with a smile as he ran towards them lightly. Even his way of running seemed quite feminine, graceful and light on his feet, Knees almost touching one another.
"I'm here, Esdeath," he says, his voice sounding androgynous, neither clearly male nor female.
Maruti immediately freaked out. "Stop right there! Maintain ten meters distance or else—"
"Or else?" Corin repeated with a confused expression, pointing his index fingers at his lips. The gesture was way too feminine.
"Or else I'll make it myself," Maruti adds as she steps back ten meters away immediately, her face looking like she had seen a ghost.
"I wonder what'll happen if your opponent turns out to be a femboy?" Esdeath sighs in disappointment, seeing Maruti still afraid of femboys.
"Easy, I'll kill him. Having a femboy companion is much more scary," Maruti answers with a defeated expression, shuddering at the thought.
"C'mon, how many times am I gonna tell you that I'm a man," Corin replied with seriousness, clenching his fist. Somehow, even that felt feminine.
"Oh yeah? Then why the hell are you wearing this?" Maruti points her index finger, her voice rising in frustration.
He was wearing a yellow crop top that showed his belly button and collarbone. While down below, he was wearing denim shorts that hugged his thighs tightly while showing the rest of his legs.
With an extra pair of loose, multi-colored socks.
"What? It's just a t-shirt and shorts? I thought it suited me," Corin replies, feeling nothing wrong with his outfit, looking down at himself with a proud smile.
"That's a freaking crop top and female shorts! Did the awakening make you gay as well? You were better as a piece of shit like before!" Maruti shouted once again, her frustration clear on her face and in her voice.