10 Chapter 10: Lucy's Cousin
The train, at last, arrived at the Temple City station, and the passengers got off. Lucy, Sam, and Sandy descended together, carrying their bags.
“Now then, where should we go?” Sandy curiously looked around, a little confused in such a big station and crowded people.
“My cousin said she’d meet us here on the platform,” Lucy was confused too, as she couldn’t see her cousin anywhere in the large crowd.
“Lulu, darling, you’ve arrived!”
She glanced aside and let out a cry as a tall and slender twenty-five-year-old woman dashed at her and clutched her in her hugs. Sam and Sandy watched her stupefiedly – she was beautiful, with long brown hair and brown sweet-looking eyes, dressed in a thin white dress and barefoot (no matter how weird it seemed to be walking barefoot outside in the streets). At first, Sandy even thought that perceiving the at-one-glance kind-hearted girl’s unusually dark aura, she had to be some kind of a spirit similar to her, and that was the very reason for her being barefoot. However, she quickly discarded this strange thought as she already knew the girl was Lucy’s cousin, thus a human, and there was no way a human could be a spirit, so her being barefoot was probably purely out of her preferable style. Another weird thing was that even though she looked so young, this girl talked more like an elderly woman, perceiving Lucy more like a child despite the difference of their age was only ten years, not more. Lucy still rejoiced, seeing her elder cousin, and hugged her back:
“Hello, Lily! It is so good to see you!”
“Aww, I missed you so much, little sis!” Lily clapped hands with joy. Then she looked at her two friends: “Are these your family you talked about?”
“Yes. This is my little sis, Samantha, but we all call her Sam, and this is our mommy squirrel, Sandra Nutts, but we call her Sandy”.
“It is nice to meet you, Ms. Lily Black,” Sandy shook her hand with a courteous smile.
“Hehe, please drop the formalities, Mrs. Nutts! Just call me Lily. It is a pleasure for me to meet you too. Thank you so much for taking care of Lucy for all these years! We all are truly grateful!” she pressed hands to her chest. “My family was really worried when she refused to join us and instead went to a children’s house, so, as I finally got a hold of my independent adult life, I hurried here to Temple City to settle things together with my husband and take care of Lucy as well. I’m so glad you all came here!”
“Thanks for the warm welcome, Lily! You can call me Sandy, too,” the squirrel spirit smiled back, relieved that Lucy’s cousin turned out to be such an honest and kind-hearted young woman. She, as a spirit, had a hard time believing in humans’ kindness.
“And you must be Samantha, right?” Lily smilingly stretched a hand out to blushing Sam who had clutched her mommy squirrel’s dress. “You can officially call me big sis Lily!”
Sam brightened – Lucy’s cousin was such a warm-hearted girl! She was totally different from when she first met Lucy – she stayed cold and collected, while this girl had burst out all her warmth all at once.
“It’s nice to meet you, big sis Lily! You can call me Sam!” she grinned at her and eagerly shook her hand.
“Now then, let’s get back to our RV,” Lily smiled, “We’ll drive you to Lucy’s high school soon”.
“Okay!”
Thus, Lily took some of their luggage and they headed out of the station. There in the street was standing a dazzling black RV with blue and purple fire depictions. Sam, Sandy, and Lucy gasped when caught a glimpse of it:
“Wow...”
“You like it? That’s our home, and from now on, your one too!”
“Awesome!” Sam jumped with joy. Sandy too smiled happily, seeing her hostess so overjoyed.
Once they walked up to the RV, Lily first knocked on the door, and then opened it, crying in:
“We’re back!”
A young, eighteen-year-old boy appeared at the stairs, looking down at them with his stern, but welcoming gaze. He had long black hair tied in a lower braid, and brown eyes. His right eye was covered with a black patch. He wore a brown coat, white shirt, black trousers, and was barefoot like Lily. Just as she looked at him, Sandy felt an overly discomforting dark aura emerge from the guy, even though he had such a welcoming smile.
“Welcome back, mother,” he quietly referred to Lily, and then looked at the three guests: “Welcome, you guys”.
“Mother?! But she’s roughly twenty-six!” Lucy exclaimed with stupor, “You’re like eighteen! What the heck?”
Both Lily and the boy laughed. Lily smilingly explained:
“My previous incarnation was his mother. He is my soul son”.
“Let me help you,” the boy grabbed the girls’ luggage altogether and took them into the RV. The astonished girls and Lily followed, and this latter closed the door behind.
The RV interior was luxurious and well-decorated, but instead of appreciating its beauty, the girls were now dumbfoundedly staring at the strange boy and Lily.
“How come a human has a soul son? I thought only spirits, angels, and demons could have such children...” Sandy blinked.
“Mom was the wife of an infernal angel, so I was born a demon. There’s nothing surprising, actually,” the boy shrugged.
“Yes. I just regained my past life memories so I identify myself as both Incubus’ mother, Lilith, and my current self, Lily”.
“You mean, your past incarnation was the first woman of the world?!” Lucy widened eyes, “I never knew that!”
“And you are Incubus, the demon prince of nightmares?!” Sandy was no less astonished. “No wonder I felt such dark aura come from both of you!”
“Yes. He is indeed the prince of the underworld, Incubus,” Lily proudly smiled as if ‘the prince of the underworld’ were not abhorring but a respectable title. “But here in the East, you might more know him as Prince Baku[1]”.
“Ah, Baku, the demon of nightmares?” Sam hid behind her mommy squirrel’s leg.
Incubus chuckled:
“Don’t be scared, I won’t disturb your dreams. You are my mother’s friends. I would never dare defy my parents”.
“Whew...” Sam wiped the sweat from her forehead, getting relieved. Lily and Incubus laughed at her gesture.
“So, if you are indeed Lilith and a soul mother to Incubus, that means you are a demon too, sis?” Lucy widened eyes.
“Yes. I am a demon soul in a human body,” Lily grinned, “But don’t be so frightened! We are on good terms with humans and we strive to defend the High Forces’ laws”.
“Awesome...”
“Yeah, but, if you are indeed Lilith, the mother of Prince Baku, then your husband has to be... the devil...” Sandy went pale, “That means, Yanluo[2]?!”
Lucy and Sam gasped – so Lily’s husband was none other but the horrendous Lord of the Land of Shadows?!
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[1] Baku (獏 or 貘) – Japanese supernatural beings that devour dreams and nightmares. According to legend, they were created by the spare pieces that were left over when the gods finished creating all other animals.
[2] Yanluo Wang (閻羅) is a Chinese deity and the ruler of the underworld Diyu. The name Yan Luo is a shortened Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit term Yama Raja (閻魔羅社). He is also the judge of the underworld and passes judgment on all the dead.
