Chapter 25 - Our Promise

"So...Y/n, and all of you. What do you plan to do now?" mama asked.

"For now, I suppose it would indeed be best if we retreat. There are still 2,000 imperial soldiers and we have other stuff to do. But I find it lovely that we can have a chat. I've been longing for one ever since I thought of going to Grace Field." I replied.

"Let's go to the human world. Once everything is over, let's find happiness, together." I removed my hat to reveal my f/c horns.

The sisters gasped and so did mama, but I didn't need to explain my story. There was no need.

"Emma had already forged a promise. If you want to come with us, that'll be lovely. Once the promise is implemented, let's go to the human world together." I smiled.

"You're going to forgive us?"

"After what we did?"

"Well..."

"But..."

"We'll stay here. I appreciate your offer, but..." mama got cut off.

"Get over it already. You were sick of this, right? If you have regrets, take care of them in the human world. I'm glad you're alive, it's because I'm alive that I can atone to my sins and clear my conscience." Ray said as he stood next to me.

"It's fine. No one will resent anyone. We're not holding grudges. So let's go. All of you, with us." Ray reassured them.

"Yeah, let's go!" Yvette exclaimed.

"Let's go!" Mark joined in.

"Come on, mom." Gilda begged.

"I'm sorry and thank you everyone." mama started crying as tears stream down her cheeks. The children had ran up to her and hugged her.

"Then it's settled. Just a little longer. Once we finish everything, we'll come back here. Until then, Grace Field will continue to operate but..." Emma got interrupted.

"We'll be waiting. Don't worry. The demons and the Ratri clan servants don't know of our betrayal yet. We'll handle it. Leave Grace Field to us. We'll take care of Phil and the others, and we'll deal with the demons too." mama reassured us.

"Be careful." mama smiled.

"We'll be back soon. Okay, we're going!" Emma exclaimed as she waved at them.

"Cislo, we're going to evacuate. Everything fine on your side?" I asked into the headset.

"Everything's fine...or it was...but...well, I don't really understand." Cislo stammered.

"What's the matter?" I asked. This caught the attention of everyone, so they were now looking at me.

"The Imperial soldiers are on the move. They're all leaving! And heading toward the outer bridge!" Cislo shouted. What the...

"That's not good! Reinforcements! They're gonna attack us!" Hayato started panicking.

"Wait. Look at this." a feminine voice said. We turned to the direction of the voice to see one of the sisters gesturing to her tablet or whatever it is.

'A notice? A message from the imperial capital to all citizens?' I thought as we read it.

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"Mujika! She was alive!" Gilda exclaimed in joy.

"But wait, she's the queen?! Why? What's going on?!" Mark shouted.

"But that's good. The evil blood will be shared." Don sighed in relief.

"It's going according to our original plan. The demons won't have to be annihilated!" Lannion joined in.

"No, but not just that..." Oliver paused.

"The farms will be abolished." Zack continued.

'The farms are going to be abolished. They will no longer exist. My children will be safe.' Y/n smiled under her hood.

"How lovely" Y/n muttered with a smile on her face.

"We aren't children to be eaten anymore. No one's going to pursue us! We're free!" Don started crying with tears of joy.

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"Phil" an alluring voice called. The voice was so gentle, so caring, so warm. Even if you wouldn't know who it is, you wouldn't hesitate to jump in their arms. Or rather, a motherly voice.

"Huh?" Phil looked around to find the owner of that sweet and gentle voice.

"Who are you?" Phil gazed at the hooded figure with blood splattered on her outfit.

"I'm home, Phil." Y/n pulled down her hood to reveal her h/c hair swaying with the wind, as visible tears blurred her vision.

"Y/n! Welcome home!" Phil didn't judge Y/N's horns. He was too happy for that. Y/n bent down with her arms spread wide open.

Phil didn't hesitate to jump into her arms and engulf himself in her warm and motherly embrace that he had missed over the months.

"I sincerely apologize for making you wait for so long, Phil." Y/n whispered as she brought him closer to her chest.

"Not at all! I've always believed you would come back for us! I knew you would come back alive!" Phil cried into Y/N's chest as she ran her fingers through his short, cropped dark brown hair.

"You must've been so scared. All alone. Knowing the truth and watching them leave without understanding their fate. It must've been so scary when you saw that scary man named 'Andrew'." Y/n hugged him tighter.

"How did you know about that?" Phil's voice was shaky which made Y/N's eyes widened.

'What did that man do to my child? He's shaking, he must've been so scared. My poor child.' Y/n glared at the grass.

"Don't worry, Phil. He's going to be sleeping forever now." Y/n smirked which made Phil's eyes widened.

"Phil!" Gilda exclaimed. Y/n released from the embrace and Phil ran over to Gilda and hugged her.

"Don! I'm glad you look well!" Phil ran over and hugged Don.

"You too!" Don hugged back. Phil released from the hug.

"Norman? You're alive?!" a tear escaped from Phil's eye.

"Yeah" Norman replied as he cupped Phil's chubby cheeks.

"Thank goodness!" Phil felt all of the weight that had been burdening him removed.

"Phil. It must have been tough. Sorry and thanks. Everything's gonna be fine now." Ray patted Phil on the head.

"Hey mom, what's going on?" a child asked as he pointed to the group of people embracing each other.

"Children!" Y/n waved. The children ran up to her, ignoring the fact that she has horns and blood all over her.

Even the kids who do not know of her somehow did not hesitate to embrace her. The motherly aura that surrounds Y/n can draw young ones closer to her, even against their will.

"Y/n! Norman! Emma and everyone else, no way!" Shelly hugged Y/n who ended up with a pile of children on top of her.

"Grandma Isabella!" the new mom of the Plantation exclaimed at the sight of the new Grandmother.

"Mom?!" the kids shouted.

"We're all free now." Isabella said.

"What?" the mom of the Plantation seemed confused.

"All the farms are being abolished. It's over. It's over now..." Isabella paused.

"Now we can just love them." Isabella held a gentle smile on her face. The mom of the Plantation couldn't take it anymore and she sobbed into Isabella's chest.

"Y/n, what happened to you? What are those?" Shelly asked as she looked at Y/n's f/c horns.

"These are my demon horns. Aren't they lovely?" Y/n winked playfully. Shelly and the other kids giggled and exclaimed 'Yeah!' before hugging her ones more.

Ray couldn't help but stare at the sight dreamily. He had missed how Y/n would look when she was embraced by children.

"So can we go now? To the human world?" Phil impatiently asked which made Y/n giggle.

"Indeed, we can." Y/n smiled as she managed to escape the swarm of children. The kids all cheered.

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"This is my farm. My meat." a deep voice growled. I then heard screams of my children who I had just reunited with and those who I do not know of.

I turned around to see a demon. Based on what he had just said, he is the owner of this farm.

I left my ax back there! My gun too! The Demon swung its claws at one of my children.

Without thinking, I ran in front of my child and intense pain could be felt in my abdominal area. I looked down to see that its claws managed to pierce through my torso.

It didn't fully pierce through since I stopped the arm with all the strength I had. It hurts...but...I have to be strong.

'Is this my punishment? For slaughtering all those demons? Is this how I die? In front of my children...' I gripped the wrist of the demon.

"Oh? You're fighting back? After what you have done, you're fighting back?!" the demon yelled at me.

I then twisted the arm and swung it around. It hurts, but I can do it. I won't let them kill me in front of them. I still need to protect them...until they get to the human world.

I threw the demon with all of the strength I have left and swung it over the cliff. It should be dead by now if it falls off from that height.

"Argh!" I groaned as blood poured from the large wound on my torso. I then started having a coughing fit with blood.

I clutched my stomach in an attempt to stop the endless bleeding. My head hurts a lot too.

"Y/n!" I heard Norman's voice shout. My body then made contact with the grassy field that I used to love to run around on.

'If I get to see my happiness smiling, I'll gladly throw everything away. Even if it means disposing of this body of mine' I gently smiled.

"Y/n! Come on, don't die on me! We promised to see that flower field together, right? We promised to get married in front of a flower field, remember? Don't you dare die on me!" Ray yelled.

༻✦༺ ༻ 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤༺ ༻✦༺

"Why do you like flowers so much?" Ray asked as Y/n twirled the flower stem between her fingers with a smile on her face.

"It's just lovely. I would be happy if I get to see a flower field when I get adopted!" Y/n exclaimed.

Y/n was still innocent at this time. Ray knew everything while Y/n didn't so he had decided to keep quiet.

"Then let's get married, I'll propose to you in front of a flower field." Ray grinned. They were only 7 back then when this happened.

"Wh-what?!" Y/n exclaimed as heat has risen to her face.

"I'll marry you when we es- I mean get adopted. I'll find you and then we'll get married. I'm gonna be the husband and you're gonna be my wife." Ray explained.

"R-really?" Y/n stuttered as she looked at the ground, embarrassed.

"I promise, so let's get married, N/n (nickname)" Ray held out a pinky. Y/n looked at him and then at the pinky. She slowly reached her hand out with her pinky out.

"I don't mind, I guess..." Y/n smiled as they intertwined their pinkies together.

༻✦༺ ༻ 𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 ༺ ༻✦༺

I felt arms hold me. I lazily fluttered my eyes open to see Ray. I smiled at him and closed my eyes.

"N/n! We promised, right? That we'll get married in front of a flower field! It's a promise, don't break it! We promised! Please..." Ray looked at my wound.

"Keep your eyes open! Stay with me, don't leave!" Ray yelled as he looked at me with teary eyes.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm not dying yet. I'm breathing, so I'm fine." I smiled before coughing again.

"Stop saying you're fine when you're not! N/n, you promised! We promised! Don't do this to me!" Ray brought me to his chest as he sobbed on my shoulder.

"Just hold on, okay? I'll find a way to help you. I'm not letting you go this time. Not again. I swear if you die..." I cut Ray off.

"I won't." I said with a smile as I reached my hand out and patted his back to soothe him.

"I'm sick of you playing this guessing game of yours. You can't just come in our lives and leave like that! What were you thinking?! How are you so sure you'll make it?!" Emma cried.

"Just a hunch" I dryly giggled before coughing again. Then, my vision started getting blurry. My hand dropped and I couldn't even move at all.

"N/n?! N/n! Wake up! Don't give up! Talk to me, please! Talk to me! Open your eyes right now! Please..." Ray clenched my blood-stained clothes.

"Thank you...for showing me happiness." I smiled gently as I closed my eyes, letting darkness engulf me in its abyss.

"Y/n!" I heard muffled voices yell.

"How pitiful" a demonic voice growled. I can hear...but I don't think I can for long. That demon is still alive, I hope they'll be okay without me.

Then, it was pitch black and nothing but silence.

Is this what death is like?

I wonder how my children are doing...

I didn't even get to tell Ray that I loved him...

Well, it seems that I can't do anything if I'm dead

It was fun, I guess...

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(A/N: Uh oh! Will you live on or will author-chan be a villain and kill you on the spot? With that blood loss, you should be dead. Anyways, that's 2192 words for you. Peace out!)